I found Sam Quinones’ lecture last night really interesting. What I found particularly fascinating was his discussion of how the rise of pharmaceutical companies intersected with a patients’ rights movement and the shortsightedness of doctors to create the opioid crisis. As Quinones was detailing this intersection, I could not help but wonder whether pharmaceutical companies, who have profited heavily from their aggressive marketing of painkillers, have recognized their culpability in creating the opioid crisis and whether they have taken any action to address it. Indeed, pharmaceutical companies could be funding the rehabilitation treatment of individuals who are seeking treatment for opioid addiction, ensuring that even those with minimal resources have access to adequate treatment facilities.
While I definitely agree that the decline of community, individuals’ increasing isolation, a fear of pain, and a desire for quick fixes are problems that needs to be addressed and that are contributing to the opioid crisis, I wish that Quinones had done a bit more to emphasize or acknowledge how broader forces and structural shifts are creating those problems. For example, as Quinones was talking about how, with the rise of the patients’ rights movement, everyone wants a pill for this problem and a pill for that problem and does not want to put in the work to arrive at the change they want to see, I could not help but question whether people are turning to quick fixes because they do not want to put in the work or if people are increasingly looking for quick fixes because working to attain what is demanded of them is nearly impossible. Indeed, people may put their faith in diet pills, muscle-building protein powders, and three-day-cleanses because they have tried healthy dieting and rigorous exercise, but their body still does not look like those of the models featured in magazines. Moreover, I think it is important to recognize that in many of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods, the decline of community is a result of economic decline. An increasing concentration of poverty in neighborhoods leaves communities devoid of the resources necessary to sustain social infrastructure and civic institutions. Indeed, working two or three jobs in the low-wage service sector to make ends meet makes it rather difficult to find time to socialize with ones’ neighbors. Accordingly, while a revival of community may alleviate the opioid crisis in more advantaged, affluent communities, addressing economic shifts that have created a host of obstacles for individuals in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods seems necessary to alleviate the opioid crisis in those areas.