The United States has been dealing with the opioid crisis since the late 1990s, and it has continued to be a growing problem since then. The addiction and misuse of opioids that includes prescription pain relievers, synthetic opioids, and heroin is a serious national health crisis that has affected public health, as well as economic and social welfare.

In Idaho, statistics show that one in twelve students have misused prescription pain relievers. The state has made significant strides in recent years in combating this public health crisis. However, there is a greater need than the opioid crisis right now, the fallout from the Coronavirus pandemic.

From 2017 to 2018, the number of deaths from drug overdoses and abuse was reduced, reportedly due to efforts to accurately prescribe opioids only to those who needed it for pain management. Unfortunately, the number of drug overdose fatalities increased in 2019.

Even so, the pandemic has been a bigger challenge, and funds should be diverted to combat still lingering effects of the Coronavirus. The stay-at-home orders, job losses, and stress can lead to mental health issues, and as a result, can lead to drug abuse.

The bottom line is that to fight the opioid crisis, we must first finish the fight with COVID-19. Even though we have been living with COVID for several years, there are still long term financial and medical issues that need to be dealt with.

Idaho should not be allocating more funding to the opiate crisis; rather, the funding should be diverted to slowing the spread of Coronavirus. This will eventually bring the opiate usage down among the general public.