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On Politics: Farewell to the Greatest Generation

<p>Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are digging in their heels as the opioid epidemic continues to decimate tens of thousands of lives annually.</p><p>In case you missed the news, Bloomberg and his Bloomberg Philanthropies say they are tired of waiting for the federal government to take meaningful action.</p><p>So the potential 2020 presidential candidate is putting his money where is mouth is, some $50 million of it, to help states stem the opioid crisis.</p><p>On Friday, Pennsylvania was designated as the first state to receive some of the funding. It is getting up to $10 million over three years.</p><p>And the money is sorely needed because things are really bad here &#8212; really, really bad.</p><p>The sad statistics pointed out by an Associated Press story:</p><p>&#8226; Pennsylvania had the highest number of drug overdose deaths in 2017 among all 50 states.</p><p>&#8226; About 5,400 state residents died via overdose last year, or double the number just three years before in 2014.</p><p>&#8226; Pennsylvania&#8217;s rate of about 44 OD deaths per 100,000 people is roughly double the national average.</p><p>&#8226; Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 47,600 Americans died last year from opioid overdoses, or about 13 percent more than in 2016.</p><p>To coincide with the grant announcement, Bloomberg and Wolf teamed to pen an opinion piece that we saw in USA Today that really got into some of the nuts and bolts of their plan.</p><p>First, the new initiative will focus on the over-prescribing of opioid-based narcotics, which has led to a double whammy of creating addicts and allowing unused pills to fall into the wrong hands.</p><p>The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids estimates that in 2016 alone, 3.3 billion pills prescribed after surgery went unused.</p><p>The Bloomberg money will also help the state improve access to treatment for addicts, including those in institutional settings, and expand the availability of life-saving drugs for OD victims such as Narcan.</p><p>Bloomberg and Wolf also point to what Pennsylvania is already doing, such as its Get Help Now Helpline which immediately connects addicts to treatment. More than 35,000 have called for help since the fall of 2016.</p><p>And so far in 2018, more than 2,000 OD patients have been referred for treatment right while they were in the emergency room as part of the state&#8217;s &#8220;warm hand-off program.&#8221;</p><p>In addition to all that, Bloomberg and Wolf mention the need for &#8220;a stronger crackdown on the importation of fentanyl.&#8221;</p><p>And just days ago, the White House announced that after President Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit, Xi agreed to classify fentanyl as a controlled substance. That means people selling it to the U.S. will receive the maximum punishment under China&#8217;s laws.</p><p>We know the cynics out there will say treatment has its limits, and drugs will always get over our borders.</p><p>But we still see the Bloomberg-funded initiatives as important steps because they tackle the problem in a variety of ways &#8212; preventing the creation of new addicts, treating addicts and saving addicts so at least they have another chance.</p><p>And if Bloomberg can make even a small difference, perhaps he will inspire others of great means in the private sector to join the fight because it seems like governments alone cannot win this one.</p><p>For the good of everyone, we want to see this work.</p><p style="text-align: right;"><em> &#8212; Times Leader</em></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, right, accompanied by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, second right, take part in a discussion in Philadelphia last Friday. Bloomberg&#8217;s charity has announced a $50 million donation to help fight the nation&#8217;s opioid epidemic, with Pennsylvania getting at least $10 million. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_PaOpioids.cmyk-2-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, right, accompanied by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, second right, take part in a discussion in Philadelphia last Friday. Bloomberg&#8217;s charity has announced a $50 million donation to help fight the nation&#8217;s opioid epidemic, with Pennsylvania getting at least $10 million. </caption0><photoCredit0>AP Photo | Matt Rourke </photoCredit0></div></div>

Our View: Bloomberg has good plan to help Pa. fight opioid scourge