SARAH WAKEMAN: When I think about the opioid crisis,
I think what we're really talking about are deaths due to opioid overdose.
And so an overdose can occur really anytime anyone uses an opioid.
And when I say opioid, that's really an umbrella term
that includes things like painkillers, prescription painkillers so Vicodin,
Percocet, Oxycodone-- all the way to heroin
and actually the opium poppy, which is where originally these substances were
derived from.
So that's the big term.
And what we've seen in Massachusetts and across the country
has been this dramatic rise in unintentional death
from overdose on these drugs or medications.
And while, again, this can happen anytime
someone uses an opioid, most often when we see these deaths,
it's due to untreated opioid addiction.
So what we're really talking about right now is a crisis of opioid addiction.
And one of the reasons that's so devastating,
and all of these deaths are so devastating,
is that opioid addiction is a completely treatable illness.
And so really, no one should be dying from an overdose.
Because we have things we can do in the setting of an overdose
to save someone's life and to keep people safe while they're actually
in the throes of addiction.
And we have treatment that we know reduces the death toll
and helps people get into long-term remission
to lead meaningful lives that really shouldn't
be foreshortened by this disease.
MARK ALBANESE: Every day, I encounter people in recovery who inspire me
and who really give me hope around this.
I think a lot of what we hear about in the media
is people who aren't doing well, people who are tragically dying.
Most of the people that I have the privilege to work with
are really making great strides in their lives.
It's an inspiring thing to watch.
And I feel privileged to be a part of that.
And it really gives me great hope for the future.
SHELLY GREENFIELD: The opioid crisis began about 15 years ago
when we saw an increase in the prescription
of opioid analgesics or narcotic analgesics,
or sometimes referred to as pain relievers.
Because we saw such an explosion of prescriptions, what we found
was that more people than ever before were exposed to opioids.
In past generations, not very many people were exposed to opioids.
But with this surge in prescribing, with a genuine intention of relieving pain,
those who have a vulnerability to becoming dependent on opioids
or developing an addiction problem on opioids were now exposed.
MIKE DUGGAN: With the prescription opioid pain medication,
it seemed like there was an abundance of these drugs everywhere.
I had a lot of friends that also had injuries
that were being prescribed medication.
It just seemed like it was easier for my generation, as an underage person,
to get access to a legal prescription narcotics on the streets
than to get somebody to buy you alcohol because
of the accessibility of these drugs.
SCOTT WEINER: The problem that we have currently
is that practitioners are literally all over the map.
Some people will not prescribe anything for any condition,
and some people will give 30, 60, 90 pills of oxycodone or hydrocodone.
And so I think what's happening is that we're
creating this severe problem of expectations
for patients, because they don't know what
they're going to get from which doctor.
We need to do a better job with that.
EFRAIN LOZADA: I pretty much started using drugs--
actually, I started drinking alcohol before the age of 14.
And then eventually, from there, I progressed into snorting cocaine.
And it was probably around the age of maybe 20
that I started snorting heroin.
PATRICK GLYNN: The opioid crisis is twofold, actually.
It's prescription medication and also powder heroin and now
the introduction of fentanyl and various forms of that.
So it's taken on two folds where we have to attack it from both ends.
MIKE DUGGAN: The opioid crisis is affecting everybody.
It's in every community.
It doesn't discriminate against anybody.
It doesn't matter poverty.
Doesn't matter race.
It doesn't matter where you come from.
Every family is affected by it.