Monnat Discusses Overdose Crisis on NBCLX

July 23, 2021

NBCLX

Shannon Monnat

Sociology Department

Aging Studies Institute

Center for Policy Research

Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health

Addiction

COVID-19

Health Policy

Longevity

United States

NBCLX

Shannon Monnat

Drug-overdose deaths in the U.S. surged nearly 30 percent in 2020, the result of a deadlier supply and the destabilizing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to preliminary federal data and public health officials.

"I think that there's no magic bullet and even after COVID goes away we'll probably continue to see drug overdoses increasing well into the next several years," says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion.

"Until we can get some control over the drug supply and put interventions in place to make the supply of drugs safer for people who are going to use or people who are struggling with addiction...we are going to keep seeing overdoses go up and ultimately, if we want to reduce the drug overdose crisis, we're going to have to deal with long-term social and economic determinants that are at the foundation of the crisis," she says.

Watch the full interview on NBCLX's LX News (beginning at 14:20).