Closing

Abstract

Abstract The book concludes by considering the implications of its findings for the development of drug policies and future research related to public health, medicine, and their relationship to culture. In addition to several practical suggestions related to the regulatory process, this chapter contends that developing a richer understanding of the opioid epidemic—of something that has often been understood and articulated as a purely medical phenomenon—would be better achieved by taking a more comprehensive approach that considers its relation to other social problems, to politics, and to American culture. Moreover, rethinking pain and addiction not as individual problems but as problems that can only be understood in complex, social, and cultural terms is a crucial agenda for future research. Examining how pain is defined, realized, and assessed; how people relate their own pain and the pain of others; and how pain becomes represented and intervened upon in a variety of domains might help American society make sense of what has happened over the past two decades. In sum, closer attention paid to the analysis and implications suggested in the chapters, along with the crucial recognition that every person’s pain matters, are key steps worth taking to end the current crisis.