Brown: Feds overly focus on punishment in opioid crisis

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown led governors from across the country in a strategic conversation on the opioid crisis on Saturday at the National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington D.C..

After brief remarks by Governor Brown and Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, her fellow officer on the National Governors’ Association Health and Human Services Committee, and guest speaker Alex Azar, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, the session opened up a wide-ranging conversation on struggles and best practices.

“There are too many Americans who feel the impact of the opioid crisis every single day. We can never look at opioid abuse in isolation,” Brown said, according to a news release from the governor’s office. “In Oregon, 60 percent of foster children have parents who struggle with addiction in general, including opioids. We must focus on prevention, on treatment, and on recovery to turn the tide on this epidemic.

“Right now, the federal government recognizes the problem, but is overly focused on punishment. That leaves us, the states, to right the wrongs of a war on drugs that has done nothing to address the issues that drive this health crisis, while our prisons and our foster care systems are filled to capacity with its victims.”

The topics ranged from addiction support services, reaching out to those suffering from addiction, to how states can monitor their progress in addressing the opioid crisis.

Brown strongly recommended to other governors the work that has come out of the Opioid Task Force, which she created in September. That body informed her opioids bill, HB 4143, which is currently making its way through the Oregon Legislature.

She said the bill builds Oregon’s approach to tackling the crisis head-on by looking for ways to lower barrier to treatment, requiring prescribers to register in the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, and creative pilot projects to connect people in recovery more quickly with the resources.

Brown said she is also focused on substance abuse issues more broadly in efforts to improve the lives of Oregonian families and children, as outlined in an upcoming executive order.