Opioid misuse and overdoses are a serious public health crisis across Washington state and nationwide.

From 2019 to 2021, the annual number of opioid drug overdose deaths in the state nearly doubled. About 55 people in America die each day from an overdose of prescribed or illicit opioids, including fentanyl and heroin.

It’s crucial to get real information and education on opioid use to communities. Washington State University faculty and staff, including assistant professor Nicole Rodin at the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, have teamed up with colleagues across Washington to get accurate and useful facts out to people and try to prevent overdoses.

They’ve focused on rural communities hit hard by opioid use, often with limited medical facilities and support.

Rodin talks with Washington State Magazine editor Larry Clark about the scope of the opioid epidemic, effective education, reducing stigma, and how we can all lend our support.

There’s a need to treat substance use disorders as health care, Rodin says. “It is a disorder. It is a medical condition, and we have yet to treat it that way as a society.”

Read more about WSU efforts on curbing substance use and addiction in the Spring 2024 issue of Washington State Magazine.

Other resources:

Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Collaborative (Northwest Region 10)

Opioid Overdose Prevention, Recognition, and Response (Washington State Department of Health)

How to talk about substance use (Washington State Magazine, Spring 2024)

WSU PEAR—Program of Excellence in Addictions Research

WSU APPL—Analytics and PsychoPharmacology Laboratory

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