[ 3 2 ] M O O R E & M O O R E
S capegoating B lack P eople & The American Opioid Crisis
have began to level off while rates for Black deaths are increasing. This shift in demographics highlights how the response and treatment of opioid use is failing Black Americans. The opioid crisis began with a steep rise in prescribing of opioid painkillers. This primarily affected white communities as they were more likely to be prescribed opioids than Black people. Even if Black people had access to care, the stigmatization against Black people makes prescribers less
likely to prescribe them opioids. This stigma, as well as disparities in public policy and penalization of substance use, make it harder for Black Americans with opioid use disorder to get treated. In Black communities, the predominant opioid is heroin, rather than prescription opioids. Heroin arrests exceed those for diverted prescription opioids and Black people are more likely to be imprisoned after drug arrests than to be diverted
L ike many recent drug policies, the recent “opioid crisis” has disproportionately affected Black people. 136 people die everyday from opioid overdose. From 2018 to 2019, the rate of opioid deaths among Black people increased by 38%. Rates for other racial and ethnic groups did not rise. In the earlier years of the opioid crisis, African- Americans had lower rates of overdose deaths than whites, but in recent years, rates of death for whites
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