Kansas leaders are trying to get ahead of the opioid crisis in the Sunflower State before it grows as bad as it has in other parts of the country.
As The Hays Daily News reports, last week the Kansas Health Institute held a symposium on the issue. One overarching theme dominated the event: The opioid crisis is coming soon to Kansas.
Ed Klumpp, former Topeka Police Department chief, said he doesn’t think people quite realize how bad it’s going to get.
“You could say the edge of the hurricane is hitting us right now, and the eye is on the way,” said Klumpp.
Keynote speaker Dr. Andrew Kolodny warned that the U.S. is still “massively over-prescribing opioids.” He also noted that it’s striking how the epidemic has been almost singularly a phenomenon among whites.
The Unites States--only five percent of the world’s population--now consumes 80 percent of the world’s oxycodone and 90 percent of the world’s hydrocodone.