Michael Duran Jr. became addicted to opioids the summer after his sophomore year of high school.
Duran defied the addict stereotype, his mother Lou said. He was smart, came from a family that ate dinner together every night and dreamed of playing professional baseball.
However, after an athletic injury, Duran’s doctor prescribed him OxyContin, and Duran quickly became addicted. Eventually, prescription opioids were not enough and he moved on to heroin. Duran died from an overdose in 2011.
President Obama has proclaimed Sept. 18-24 National Opioid and Heroin Epidemic Awareness Week to highlight prevention, enforcement and treatment options for addicts like Duran.
Opioids are a class of drugs that include prescription pain relievers such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, fentanyl and other drugs, including heroin, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine.
A survey of 9,000 patients at treatment centers around the country found that 90 percent of heroin users were white men and women with an average age of 23, according to NPR. Three-quarters of participants said they first started with heroin instead of prescription opioids like OxyContin.
The epidemic is eviscerating our young people, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said.
Obama requested $1.1 billion last month to be spent over the course of two years to combat the national epidemic. Congress has yet to act.
In 2014, 78 people died every day because of opioid-related overdoses, said Michael Botticelli, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Every single one of those deaths could have been prevented with the right attitude and approach, said Tom Vilsack, secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
The treatment gap is perpetuating the epidemic, Botticelli said. Only 11 percent of addicts are getting treatment for their addicition, he said.
The gap is a particular problem in rural America, where there are only 25 treatment centers, Vilsack said.
To counteract the epidemic, justice department officials will participate in more than 250 events this week stressing the importance of prevention, enforcement and treatment, according to a White House press release.
Additionally, the Department of Agriculture will have state forums on the epidemic in Connecticut and Colorado. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald will lead a forum in Washington, D.C., on treatment and support for veterans with opioid use disorder.
“This is a disease, not a character flaw,” Vilsack said.
