The Opioid Crisis: A Policy Case Study

All types of communities across the US are struggling to fight the opioid epidemic. This book offers a policy analysis and provides points for in-depth discussion about the current drug crisis. It is meant to supplement a standard social welfare/social work or advocacy textbook and applies the concepts to the real-life challenges facing those with an opioid use disorder.

The Opioid Crisis offers no simplistic explanations or easy answers to the policy challenges caused by the opioid crisis. Instead, it provides analytic tools such as the Social Determinants of Health to help readers grapple with this multi-faceted problem. Topics include stigma related to drug use and poverty, child welfare, the overincarceration of drug users (especially persons of color), and policy solutions such as supervised injection sites. Harm reduction, a controversial approach, is also addressed as a policy issue. Central to the book’s purpose is to increase the respect for the dignity and worth of persons with opioid use disorder who deserve the best possible support for their recoveries. The opioid crisis presents many policy challenges, but also several opportunities to fight for social justice--and win.

Gail Ukockis, PhD, MSW, LSW, MA is an educator, advocate, writer, and social worker currently working at a substance abuse agency in Columbus, OH.