Molly Cook

More than a century before the mismarketing of OxyContin dominated news outlets, the nation faced its first opioid epidemic. The emergence, eruption, and progression of the two epidemics followed similar paths, but the 19th-century epidemic has faded into distant memory and recovery from the more recent has yet to occur. During the first epidemic, pharmaceutical companies and federal regulations laid the groundwork for the stigmatization of opioid addiction that has isolated those struggling with opioid dependence today. Mitigating the modern opioid crisis requires an understanding of the onset of the first opioid epidemic and of the physiology of addiction and making proven treatments such as medication-assisted treatment (MAT) widely available. Accessible treatment in conjunction with de-stigmatization of addiction is needed to prevent such epidemics and build a system that can prevent history from repeating itself. My thesis project, In Crisis, Again, tells the story of opioids’ devastating effects on U.S. society and identifies the elements necessary for the nation’s recovery. View the live site at https://m0llyc00k.github.io/Thesis-2022.