Last week the House of Representatives approved what The New York Times described as “a mountain of bills addressing the nation’s opioid abuse crisis.” The 18 bills passed “by huge bipartisan margins.” A flurry of legislative activity like this usually materializes when the drug problem it targets is already receding, notes Jacob Sullum. That seems to be the case with the so-called opioid epidemic. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), nonmedical use of opioid analgesics such as oxycodone and hydrocodone peaked in 2012 and has since dropped below the rate in 2002. Although the recent decline in prescription painkiller use was accompanied by an increase in heroin use, total opioid use was still lower in 2014 than in 2012.
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