Cutting off the opioid epidemic at the root

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IT’S BEEN nearly two years since the state declared prescription drug and heroin addiction a public health emergency. Since then, we’ve had an all-hands-on-deck approach from lawmakers, police and fire chiefs, health professionals, and community groups.

But our collective efforts haven’t been enough. Until we change the culture around how opioids are prescribed, and dramatically reduce the number of pills available, people will continue to die.

Since 1999, the number of prescription painkillers sold in the United States has nearly quadrupled. In 2014, there were 4.6 million opioid prescriptions written in Massachusetts alone — enough for nearly every adult in this state to have a bottle of pills. Meanwhile, overdose deaths have risen by more than 300 percent.

We won’t solve this crisis until we cut it off at its root, by reducing the use of prescription opioid painkillers like Oxycontin, Vicodin, and Percocet. Cheap heroin is not a new...

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