Dr. Nabarun Dasgupta: Not all communities in the US are experiencing the declines in overdose in the same way. There are some people being left behind.
We know nationally that the rates of overdose between different races are not the same. Native Americans have by far the highest rates of overdose in the United States, and they’re not dropping as fast as they are for African Americans and whites. What does it actually take to make sure that nobody gets left behind as overdose deaths decline?
Overdose prevention efforts cannot be one-size-fits-all.
We need people from the community who are experiencing the highest overdose rates to be at the table, not just designing the interventions, but being the ones who are empowered to implement it. Only they can reach the people in their own communities.
The best thing we can do is give people resources they need and step away and let them do what is right for their own people. Every place you go in the United States, you will find people who have lost their loved ones to overdose and have dedicated their lives to serving and preventing others from experiencing that kind of grief.
About Dr. Nabarun Dasgupta: Dr. Dasgupta is a senior scientist at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He has been studying drug overdose deaths for over 20 years.
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