Natural disasters can cause another crisis for those recovering from opioid addiction
Toni Brewer, recovering from opioid addiction, faced a crisis when Hurricane Helene disrupted her access to Suboxone medication. A group of doctors is urging federal lawmakers to improve access to substance use medications during natural disasters to prevent relapses and overdose deaths.
Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina in late September 2024, leaving Toni Brewer without power or water. Brewer, who had been in recovery from opioid addiction for 18 months, discovered she had only three days' worth of Suboxone, a medication that eases opioid cravings. A group of doctors is now urging federal lawmakers to improve access to substance use medications during severe weather emergencies. They cite studies showing that natural disasters have aggravated the opioid crisis in the past, including after Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Maria, and the Tubbs and Camp fires in Northern California. The doctors argue that climate change will increase the number of disasters, heightening the risk of overdose deaths. They note that mental health stressors, treatment disruptions, and economic decline create conditions in which climate-related disasters worsen the opioid epidemic, which has killed over 800,000 in the U.S. since 1999.
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