The Opioid Crisis in Black Communities

Abstract

While much of the social and political attention surrounding the nationwide opioid epidemic has focused on the dramatic increase in overdose deaths among white, middle-class, suburban and rural users, the impact of the epidemic in Black communities has largely been unrecognized. Though rates of opioid use at the national scale are higher for whites than they are for Blacks, rates of increase in opioid deaths have been rising more steeply among Blacks (43%) than whites (22%) over the last five years. Moreover, the rate of opioid overdose deaths among Blacks already exceeds that of whites in several states. The lack of discussion of Black overdose deaths in the national opioid discourse further marginalizes Black people, and is highly consistent with a history of framing the addictions of people of color as deserving of criminal punishment, rather than worthy of medical treatment. This article argues that, because racial inequalities are embedded in American popular and political cultures as well as in medicine, the federal and state governments should develop more culturally targeted programs to benefit Black communities in the opioid crisis. Such programs include the use of faith-based organizations to deliver substance use prevention and treatment services, the inclusion of racial impact assessments in the implementation of drug policy proposals, and the formal consideration of Black people's interaction with the criminal justice system in designing treatment options.

Racial discrimination, John Henryism coping, and behavioral health conditions among predominantly poor, urban African Americans: Implications for community‐level opioid problems and mental health services

“…In majority minority cities such as Washington, DC it has been found that upwards of 80% of Opioid deaths are amongst the Black community, a 245 percent increase within a three-year timespan (NPR,2018). Other major cities such as Chicago also have noticed a 56% higher overdose rate in 2015 to 2016 amongst their black communities than their white (James & Jordan, 2018). Taken together, it is clear that racial discrimination is an uncontrollable stressor that can have a harmful impact on behavioral health.…”

Opioid Knows No Color or Economic Status: Crossing Over to Drug Addictions

“…For nearly 20 years, more than 350,000 Americans with the majority White Americans in the Rust Belt of northern states have died of opioid related drugs (Siemaszko, 2018). James and Jordan (2018) maintained that although the most dramatic increase in opioid-related deaths occurred in White Americans, the opioid epidemic has also greatly affected communities of color.…”

“…As alleged by Netherland and Hansen (2017), a very different system for responding to the drug use of whites has emerged. According to James and Jordan (2018), more emphasis is being placed on the disease model of substance use disorders, thus saying that individuals who misuse opioids should receive medical treatment. The response to white Americans addiction, differs greatly from the past approach to the crack/cocaine drug use when used mostly by Black Americans.…”

“…As reported by Kennedy (2018), centering public attention and policy about the opioid crisis on White Americans is another example of how structural and systemic racism has diffused our answers to addictions. James and Jordan (2018), emphasizes that if racial segregations are not clearly acknowledged, they run the risk of being repeated in all areas where opioids play a role. Therefore, people of color will continue to suffer in an epidemic that ignores their experiences.…”

Epidemiological and geospatial profile of the prescription opioid crisis in Ohio, United States

“…While most efforts have been focused on targeting opioids, there is little information about vulnerable populations at high risk of opioid abuse and death, where and what demographical groups are at higher risk, and what are the drivers boosting the epidemic of opioid overdose deaths in the recent years 12 .…”