Drug overdoses killed more than 67,000 Americans in the most recent 12 months of CDC data. In the midst of the pandemic, methadone, a primary treatment for opioid use disorder, is less available to those who need it most, Seton Hall associate professor Jennifer Oliva said. (AP Photo, File)AP

By Jennifer D. Oliva

Before the coronavirus pandemic, America was making hard-won progress in the fight against opioid use disorder and overdose deaths. Heartbreakingly, COVID-19 is now erasing those gains and taking deadly aim at the vulnerable population of persons struggling with opioid use disorder.

One of the solutions, and a relatively easy one to implement, is to repeal antiquated laws that frustrate access to methadone and require needless in-person visits to treatment centers. While outright repeal would be best, temporary repeal during the current public health emergency will at least save some lives now.

Even against the backdrop of COVID-19, drug addiction is a public-health monster. Drug overdoses killed more than 67,000 Americans in the most recent 12 months of CDC data. That’s a leveling off — and even gentle decline — after years of increases that peaked above 70,000 in late 2017. But COVID-19 is changing everything. In recent days, cities in New York, Ohio and Florida have reported frightening upticks in drug overdose deaths. In the midst of the pandemic, methadone, a primary treatment for opioid use disorder, is less available to those who need it most.

Progress against opioid use disorder has centered around community treatment programs providing methadone. But thanks to laws that are relics from the war-on-drugs era, individuals with opioid use disorder can only obtain methadone at opioid treatment programs. These programs are heavily regulated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and state governments. Patients must submit to an in-person, pre-admission physical, routine random drug testing, compulsory counseling, and daily, on-site visits for medication administration subject to certain exceptions.

This system crumbles with social distancing orders and fears of getting infected from close contact with others. Intensifying the problem is that disproportionate numbers of individuals with opioid use disorder are immunocompromised. And they have frequent contact with the criminal justice system — including jails with high rates of COVID-19. What is more, workers in treatment clinics often lack access to personal protective equipment.

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