With President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency regarding border security on Feb. 15 despite overwhelming evidence that such action is not warranted, I’d like to propose an actual national emergency: the opioid crisis.  
It’s not just the “everyday junkie,” but sons, daughters, your cousin, your best friend; it’s insane to believe it could never be you or someone you love. All it takes is one doctor to overprescribe pain relievers such as oxi (generic: oxycodone; brand name: OxyContin), percs (Percocet: a mixture of acetaminophen and oxycodone), or codeine. Pain relievers are expensive, and when a habit turns into a problem, people turn to cheaper options—namely heroin. 
Overprescribing is an increasing issue even with state governments starting to monitor prescriptions with a high risk for abuse. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) reports, “Since the 1990s, when the amount of opioids prescribed to patients began to grow, the number of overdoses and deaths from prescription opioids has also increased. Even as the amount of opioids prescribed and sold for pain has increased, the amount of pain that Americans report has not similarly changed.” They also stated, “From 1999 to 2017, more than 700,000 people have died from a drug overdose. Around 68 percent of the more than 70,200 drug overdose deaths in 2017 involved an opioid” (1). 
Talbott Recovery’s 2018 report states that “Prescription opioid drugs contribute to 40 percent of all U.S. opioid overdose deaths [and b]ecause of its cheaper price, heroin has become the drug of choice for many who are addicted to opioid pain relievers. Approximately three out of four new heroin users misused prescription opioids prior to using heroin.” 
Because controlled prescriptions are finally starting to decline, more and more synthetic drugs are entering the scene, the most recent being fentanyl. The DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) states on their website, “Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 80–100 times stronger than morphine.” Originally made for cancer patients suffering from severe pain, fentanyl is being cut with heroin to make it seem more potent and is therefore resulting in more overdoses and overdose-related deaths. In a 2018 article, NBC said, “The death rates are driven mostly by a startling 9.6 percent increase in drug overdose deaths, from 63,632 in 2016 to 70,237 in 2017. Most of the overdoses involved opioids of some sort, and the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics recorded a 45 percent increase in deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and tramadol. They accounted for nearly 30,000 of the drug overdose deaths” (1). The CDC says that, “On average, 130 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose” (2).
It’s easy to remove yourself from all the ODs and drug-related activity when it doesn’t involve you, your family, or your friends, but that’s the first mistake people make. Drugs are abused everywhere, especially on the eastern part of Massachusetts. I’ve had three people I know OD and die from heroin, and I have a couple of friends who are struggling to get clean. This is all why I propose we lay to rest what President Trump deems an emergency and look at the real issues in the United States. There needs to be more rehabilitation options for addicts, where we stop throwing people in jail for having these addictions and go after narcotic drug dealers—as well as their plugs. Going to prison for weed is counter-productive and a waste of resources and taxpayers’ money. We need to turn the tide and focus on something other than a wall on the southern border.
(1) https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/americas-heroin-epidemic/drug-overdose-deaths-top-70-000-drive-down-u-s-n941476
(2) https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html