The Long Journey for Reasonable Opioid Care

Stat: 1 in 4: More than 2 million Americans suffer from opioid use disorder, but only about 1 in 4 receive any care. 

Story: Opioid use has become a major public health problem in the United States, but there are many obstacles to treatment, including stigma. In this episode, members of Pew’s substance use prevention and treatment team explain how to overcome barriers to care—and how new rules from the quarantine days of the pandemic can help show the way.

We also hear from Jordan Scott, an advocate for people with substance use disorders in Pennsylvania, who shares her own long journey with addiction and the obstacles she faced.

Please note that this episode references addiction and self-harm.

Related Resources:

• Methadone Is an Effective Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder
• Telehealth Connects Patients With Opioid Use Disorder to Care
• America’s Opioid Crisis: Outpatient Treatment is Effective and Accessible
• Access to Methadone Is Critical to Curbing Opioid Overdoses
• National Center for Health Statistics – Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts