Episode 68: Opioid Addiction and the ADA with the Department of Justice

For additional information and transcript visit www.adalive.org/episode68 Submit your questions at https://www.adalive.org/submit_question Every day, more than 130 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids. The misuse of and addiction to opioids—including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl—is a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as social and economic welfare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the total "economic burden" of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States is $78.5 billion a year, including the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement. (Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis) In the second episode of this series, Stephanie Berger and Savannah Weston, Attorney Advisors in the Disability Rights Section (DRS) of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, will discuss the Department of Justice’s Disability Rights Section and their role in the current opioid crisis in the US.