Christina Mohlakola

Professor Clint Johnson

Letter of Transmittal

04/26/2019

English is my second language and I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to be

a part of this class. There are so many lessons, which I have learned which I will take on with me

for the rest of my college career and into the world. Being in the class was not easy. I initially took

the class online because I thought I did not think that it was going to be challenging, but I was

wrong. English is a second language for me, and I always thought I was good at it until I took this

class. I have gained knowledge and skills pertaining to the six Threshold Concepts, social media

posts do not resonate with me the same way they did prior to the course, and most importantly, I

have acquired research skills, which is something that I have never done to the extent of what we

did in class.

The six Threshold Concepts are; Writing is a Resource, Rhetoric, Action, Choice, Literate

Practices and Processes, and Concept. The Threshold concepts have really affected my reading,

analysis, and writing in a sense that I am more aware of them. I have found that I am digging a bit

deeper in my readings and writings. I have contracted this underlying sense of guilt like, “Christina

you can dig deeper”, when I neglect to use these tools. Rhetorical concepts are ones that were

foreign to me up until this course. Initially they were very hard to grasp and apply, but it feels as

if they are slowly becoming a part of my writing. Most of the time I read my writing out loud and

I can tell if there are certain pieces missing. Being aware of the audience and giving credit where

it is warranted is yet another concept that I feel I am more aware of. I have come to a realization
that writing for me is a form of expression, which has been able to heal my aches, frustration, and

pain. It has become a voice. I know that the choices that I make when I write are going to influence

how my message is perceived by the audience, since writing can be used as a call to action. We

read in order to acquire more knowledge to supplement and strengthen our writing, which are

powerful tools used for centuries to change the world. With these concepts, I have the tools to

write with purpose in a way that it will influence change.

I was so happy when we you asked us to write a reflective Narrative. Being able to explore

my imagination and delve into the world of non-fiction. It was fascinating for me to learn that non-

fiction is not always the complete truth. Learning the specs as to how each form of literature works,

enabled me to write out of bounds without feeling constricted. I found that non-fiction; descriptive,

live, writing is what my mind gears towards. Initially I was afraid of writing within the Threshold

concepts. In my mind I thought, “This is going to keep me from writing about what I want, the

way that I want”. My writing instead has improved immensely.

I use to scroll through social media posts and sometimes, intuitively look in to the rhetoric

behind those posts. I was not aware of rhetorical analysis, looking for the logos, ethos and pathos.

Now days, I read a post on twitter with a mind more open mind. I try to view what people post

from different perspective and points of views. I used to used slang in the work place or just send

messages in our group inbox without thinking twice about it. Keeping my audience in mind when

I am writing is an important writing guide.

Another thing that I have been able to apply to social media and the workplace, and even

texting is revision. It is vital to take a second, third, fourth, or fifth glance at the information we
are putting out into the world. Working in the medical industry, being able to edit and review

information is important as the paperwork is dealing with patients’ lives.

There is a saying that trials in life, or challenges, obstacles are there to make us stronger.

The research paper was just that for me. I had a hard time finding the three different viewpoints.

Incorporating sources into the research and being able to synthesize each piece of research into my

own words was difficult. I chose a topic that hits close to home, which many people can relate. It

was hard for me to stay objective. Even though it was difficult, I am glad that I was able to put

time and effort into it and focus on learning, as it is an ongoing issue of our time. My experience

with these threshold concepts has taught me that writing is a process. It can take days, weeks, to

write an effective paper

Thank you for having us read the “Shitty First Drafts” piece. I used to be so self-conscious

about my writing, self-critical, and this helped much of my progress this semester. After reading

that paper, I realized that I am not alone, and many people feel the same. We are so hard on

ourselves, and it is important to realize that it is okay to let go and write freely. There will be time

to edit later. I am also very happy and grateful to know that other than the writing center, there

are librarians who are available ready to help.

My most favorite part of this class that I will forever take with me are the Self Directed

Learning assignments. Initially I was not a very big fan of them, but I have found them to be

universal. In a sense that I have found that, they were rhetorical! We were practicing rhetoric

without even realizing it. Being able to analyze the concepts we learned weekly and applying them

to our daily lives. It is proof that reading and writing are a bigger part of our lives that we think. I

was actually able to apply what I learned in this class in my Philosophy class. We recently had to
submit a position paper. I wrote mine on death penalty. I feel like I was able to write an effective

piece because I did research based off different viewpoints. In my spare time, I enjoy writing songs

and making music. I have found that now when I am song writing, I think more about my audience.

Whom am I writing? How do I want them to perceive the song? What is the purpose? What is my

end goal? I look at all these things, and they even help in my songwriting. I know it is just English

0990, but the school published my narrative! This has inspired me to write more about my journey,

my childhood in Africa.

I feel like when I am reading now, I am able to read much more rhetorically than ever

before. I also feel like I am applying this analysis even with conversations. Tools I have learned in

this class are going to be effective in being able to write my stories. I know that this may be

thinking too far ahead, but I know that someday when I have kids they will ask me to edit their

papers. These are tools that I will pass down to my kids someday.
Christina Mohlakola
Professor Clint Johnson
English 1010

Narrative

I kneel down as if to pray. Hunched over the, sky-blue, plastic bin there is a casting of my

shadow on the ground. The fabric and my fingers, a duo, now duel against the clear water and

soapy waves. The pleats, perimeter, and circumference breathe blue up until the collar line. The

color is white and as much as I would love to pretend that it is not there I cannot. I am washing it

thoroughly so that I do not have to surrender to the wooden stick at school tomorrow. The duel

continues but the weapon changes. The material has gotten much smaller and now multiplied by

two. The water, no longer transparent has darkened, and I can no longer see my reflection. My

fingers have aged and wrinkled within a span of twenty minutes. I have clearly won the battle

with my school uniform as I dump the water, watching it trickle down the grass swallowed and

into the ground. I hang the uniform securing it with pegs on the hanging wire.

On the front doorstep are my doc martens still placed where I slipped them off. Dust is

piled up in layers where I could almost mistake the charcoal color underneath them for tan. At

random, I proceed to pick up one of the shoes, my eyes closed and facing away as I brush the

dust off almost completely. The lid to the tin polish pops open easily as I dip the brush, and

proceeded to polish the shoes in back and forth motions. I tackled the creases in between with a

small toothbrush. To enhance the color, I pick up the small sized face towel and polish in

circular and side to side motions until the shoes shine.

With the sun rising, I can hear the chickens cackling from two houses down. My morning

routine is quite simple since I completed my to-do list yesterday. I grab the slice of bread with
butter and pour a cup of tea from the metal tea pot that my grandmother had made. I can see the

primary school from a distance as I bite the fresh slice of bread. Sipping on the red rose tea, a

young boy is approaching from a distance. He remained faithful to the one hour walk to school

each morning every day, every year. I’m lucky to live near the school as it only takes me fifteen

minutes to walk there. There are two routes to get to the school, a choice between squeezing my

body through the barbed-wire fence, or taking the long way through the main gate. I choose the

fence.

The school is comprised of five different buildings, each one assigned a number. Class

one through five. There is a fence and two large entrance gates east and west to the school and I

walk past and greet my principal, “Good morning”. Walking toward the assembly lines, I looked

back and watched as a few fellow students were late. The first student in line put their hand out

palms facing up, my principal’s hand that held the wooden stick rose up toward the sky, I could

not bear to look.

We are standing in lines by grade during the assembly. This was where we recited our

pledge of allegiance and sang our national anthem. It was quiet as we all stood attention. I

wanted so badly to get in front of the school and share what I had learned, but I was too afraid. I

had nearly talked myself out of stage fright but the principal was already making closing

remarks. The songs and march lead us to the classrooms, row by row.

The classroom is mid-sized, lined by long wooden tables and chairs that shine as if they

have been dusted with wooden polish. Concrete brick walls keep the classroom cool in the

summer. The three large windows welcome the sun and I love sitting near the window as it keeps

me warm in the winter. We sit facing the blackboard. The canvas is blank; all that has been

written in white chalk is the date and day of the week.

 I sit on the long wooden bench and we alternatively sit by gender. Roll call starts and my

teacher calls my name and in turn, I say, “present-teacher”. I am tempted to speak the native

language, Sotho, to my neighbor, but I know I am risking being whipped. We are not allowed to

speak our native language on school grounds unless it is before or after school. I struggle to think

in English all day, and I cannot help but slip into my native tongue. I hope Eliza does not tell on

me. This was a remnant of English colonization. Who am I?

“I am going to the toilet. Eliza write down names of whoever speaks in the native

language,” said my teacher. My name was on the list, and generous spankings were going to be

then be distributed shortly. “I hope I don’t get spanked on the knuckles or backside, those are the

most painful. I hope I only get a few strokes or maybe she’ll use this as a warning”, I thought to

myself. The door opened and she was back.

Christina Mohlakola
Professor Clint Johnson
Rhetorical Analysis

Alice Gregory, a freelance writer of the Boston Globe, Times, and NPR invites non-lds

women in their twenties who use Instagram quite a lot to indulge in her beliefs as to why so

many of our social media beauties are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day

Saints (LDS). With a writing process comprised of short shorts and glasslike stripper heels she

wrote the article, “Why So Many of Your Favorite Beauty Personalities are Mormon” which can

be found in the October 11th 2017’s Allure Magazine Issue. Today’s beauty standards are

established on social media platforms such as Instagram. Gregory is trying to create awareness as

to how Mormon women have become prominent beauty personalities online.

First, she takes us back to the beginning when the Mormon Church was first established.

The historical biblical context from the church prophet shows how the standards came about, and

how they are relative to young women in today’s society. She shows us this through Logos from

Brigham Young and the way that beauty expectations have evolved over time into current day

pamphlets, and online church how-to guides on beauty maintenance. Mormon women are

expected to maintain their beauty from a very young age, through makeup, exercise, abstinence

from smoking, alcohol, caffeine, and in the worst-case scenario some resort to plastic surgery,

hence why many of them are our most well-known beauty personalities. Gregory gives

information about where the ability to maintain this beauty standards come from, which is

religion. While Alice Gregory was likely not effective for readers in Utah, she was very effective

to an audience of outsiders/beauty enthusiasts in answering the question, “Why are so many

Mormon women beauty bloggers?” Gregory uses pathos, logos, and ethos to answer her question

effectively for this audience of outsiders

Gregory wants her audience to see the contradictions she has come across from her trips

to salt lake as well as through observing doctrine and from speaking to LDS women in the

Church. As she informs us of the contradictions that are from church standards, she carries us

through each phase with strong engaging range of imagery as Ethos. It seems as if we as women

have to decide for ourselves how we define beauty. Do we want to go by Mormon standards,

which to the author are contradicting or go off of our own. At the end she leaves you with a

sense that she feels that women should be able to feel beautiful with or without all the superficial

melisma.

We are introduced to our first contradiction through Amber Fillerup. Amber has over one

million Instagram followers, and shows off her life to the world. We learn that Church culture

encourages girls to start doing activities that enhance their beauty at a young age. Quickly

Gregory then shifts into Pathos where she is envious of the Insta Famous woman’s lifestyle, her

seamless outfits, and how happy she looks. Shortly after she slides into logos and reveals the first

contradiction, “Thou shalt not be proud in their heart; let all thy garments be plain”.

Gregory has a standard pattern in each section. She does great work engaging her

audience as she starts out with non-fictional imagery, which is directly connected to the

person who is being discussed.

Megan Sanburn Jones, professor at BYU, explains how Gender roles are prominent

within the religion. Men must go to work and play sports, while women are to stay at home and
love makeup she says. It took twenty years for Brigham Young to retract his first initial

instruction for everyone to beautify themselves and everything around them. In his new

statement he said “spend more time in moral, mental and spiritual cultivation, and less

upon fashion and the vanities of the world,” Gregory includes statements from conflicted

Mormon women who at the end of the day don’t know what to do when the messages are not

clear. Mormon women are expected to do the impossible, how can someone be focused so much

on their outer appearance without deterring their inter spirituality?

Gregory is responding to contradicting principles within the faith. She seems to be

genuinely confused and trying to give her audience both sides of the spectrum. It seemed as if

she was trying not to be too harsh in places she kept things a little bit soft. A part of her seems to

envy the beauty as she describes it, but then in the end she moves us into the logos of each

stance.

Historical context from Joseph Smith back in 1833 educates the audience about when and

where the word of wisdom was first established. Members are to abstain from drinking, smoking,

drugs, coffee and tea. Gregory seems to be in support of this because it actually makes sense as

to why so many Mormon women are as beautiful as they are. She uses Ethos as she talks about

seeing the results of abiding by these rules in her aunts. She even finds herself abstaining from

wine before heading over to visit them.

We learn about how Mormons believe in staying fit through their own fitness groups.

This is another supporting fact or logo tying back to how so many Mormon women are our

Instagram beauties. Adhering to the church beauty standards become harder with age, and after

having had children, Mormon women cling to plastic surgery. It is amazing to think that God
may or may not let these women into heaven based off of their outer appearance, stretchmarks,

saggy breast, wrinkles, remnants of pregnancy. Which is something that is viewed as beautiful in

society. One of the member’s Kendric says “It can be very hard for women who are outside

of normative standards of beauty.” Harder than you can imagine. “In my religion you’re

not just talking about having to look good now,” says Kendrick. “You’re also talking

about your eternal salvation. Ultimately these beauty standards are connected to what

gets us into heaven.”

Gregory tells us about how there are more plastic surgeons in Utah than in LA per capita,

which is contradictory of it being one of the most religious states in the united states. She talks

about how she went to Provo, and found the aura a bit creepy at first, but how everyone seemed

happy. Provo looks perfect with everything clean and beautified. She compares it to the town she

grew up in, but on the contrary, her town is not as clean on the outside. She ends by telling us

that even so, she is proud to be from her dirty town at least knowing that she does not have to

worry about a boob job. More so her outer appearance so much. She is happy that she can be

herself without the superficial additions. Then she ends by somehow contradicting herself by

saying but then again what does she know. It feels as if she wants to say whatever makes you

happy in the end is all that matters. She makes us question whether having a chronic concern

with your outer appearance is true happiness. Having to appeal to the church market but having

to meet all the expectations. The God that the women are appealing to seems to be contradicting

in these expectations. Since the religion is gender organized, and if God is not a materialistic

person, what kingdoms or who are the women trying to appeal to? Probably their husbands and

their “kingdoms”.
 I feel like Gregory was very clear in her stance as to feeling as church standards were

contradicting to beauty standards of women. She did a great job of giving us Logos to support

the contradictions. Her experience in Utah and the things she had seen were a great source. She

used statistics, which were real to support her claims, which I feel, made her article powerful.
Christina Mohlakola
Professor Clint Johnson
Annotated Bibliography

My research question is what is the best way to combat the opioid crisis?

The opioid is a well-known struggle of our time. We live in a country where many people are

being affected and dying in large numbers on a daily basis. After reading, I came to learn that the

crisis is not just within our country, but it is going global. I also have learned a lot about the

initiatives that are in place by government officials as well as pharmaceutical companies in order

to fight the battle. In these articles I am researching to find out what we are doing, or what

methods are believed to be the best as far as combating the crisis. This article supports the

viewpoint that less addictive drugs are the way to end the crisis. Pharmaceutical companies have

to find alternatives, which will prevent them from further lawsuits. The audience in this article

would be manufacturer, the government. I would be people in positions of power.

Resource 1: Cracking the Code: Using Data to Combat the Opioid Crisis

Martinez, Catherine. “Cracking the Code: Using Data to Combat the Opioid Crisis.” Journal of
Law, Medicine & Ethics, vol. 46, no. 2, Summer 2018, pp. 454–471. EBSCOhost,
doi:10.1177/1073110518782953.

Catherine Martinez is a law student at Yale Law School. In the article, Martinez highlights how

we are now correctly identifying the opioid crisis as a health emergency. She talks about how

different states have different rules for opioids, and how it would be better if all the states were

on the same platform as far as regulation. Through logos, Martinez demonstrates to her audience

that we would be able to identify which communities are being impacted the most, where we
need more resources, where the over prescribing is most prominent, and where the doctor

shopper hotspot are. The author does a great job of giving us information as to what can be done

with the research, but she also says that applying and putting what we find into action is the main

challenge. “Having access to more data does not matter if that data is not used. There is a risk

that collecting more data may simply present the illusion of action, while not leading to concrete

benefits”, says Elizabeth Martinez. She believes that data sharing between states on a standard

level will be able to help us pre-determine future problems with the crisis and better work toward

fighting the epidemic.

Resource 2: Overcoming Opioids: The Quest for Less Addictive Drugs

Marchione, Marilynn. "Overcoming Opioids: The Quest for Less Addictive Drugs." Newsday, 17

Apr. 2017. SIRS Issues Researcher,https://sks-sirs-com.libprox1.slcc.edu.

Marchione, a writer for Newsday, explains that 91 people are dying every day from opioid

substance abuse. This is a strong tie to not only logos, but ethos as well. Her audience is being

enlightened statistically, but the impact and emotions associated with death are ones audiences

across the board can identify with. She informs her audience of how people who are in pain have

become extremely reliant on these harmful medications. The crisis, says Marchione, has become

so bad that pharmaceutical companies are working on creating or producing non-addictive drugs

for patients. Marchione writes that the bodies adapt so quickly to the medications that patients

end up needing increased doses to satisfy the adaption. With the high number of daily mortality,

pharmaceutical companies are starting to see the damage that done by their products. They want

to create alternatives, which will not be as addictive to help fight the crisis.
Resource 3: Attacking the Opioid Crisis with Policies: Education
Miller, Debra. "Attacking the Opioid Crisis with Policies, Education." Capitol Ideas, 2016, pp.
14-17. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks-sirs-com.libprox1.slcc.edu.

In this article, Debra Miller talks about how more people are dying from opioid abuse than car

accidents. President Obama stated that we must all work together to fight the crisis. This issue

has been going on a downhill slope for fifteen years. She provides strong logos in statistical form

to give her audience an outlook on the crisis as the death rates have tripled since 2000. The

author talks about the importance of being able to view the epidemic as a disease, the same way

we look at illnesses such as cancer, or diabetes. Community education and outreach and being

able to break down stigmas associated with drugs is what Miller believes will help us better

tackle the crisis. Educating patients prior to prescribing is one of the best solutions in tackling the

crisis says Miller. She informs her audience of new limitations set in place, which target Opioid

naive patients. The patients can only fill a seven-day supply of prescription opioids to start. "We

can't arrest our way out of the [drug] problem," she said. "We can't treat our way out of the

problem. Education holds the key." - Debra Miller. The audience in this article is no limited. It

would be everyone because Debra is saying that education is the first measure or act of

prevention that can be applied. Stakeholder I this view would be the doctors as they are

responsible for educating patient when they first pick up their prescriptions. This can also be

concentrated towards young people who are not aware of the effects of opioids. This article

supports the viewpoint that education is the tool that has to be used for prevention.

Resource 4: Opioids of the Masses: Stopping an American Epidemic from going Global

Humphreys, Keith,Jonathan P.Caulkins, and Vanda Felbab-Brown. "Opioids of the Masses:

Stopping an American Epidemic from Going Global." Foreign Affairs, 2018, pp. 118-129. SIRS
Issues Researcher, https://sks-sirs-com.libprox1.slcc.edu.
Jonathan Humphreys, a writer for Foreign affairs writes this article to communicate options as to

how we can keep the opioid crisis from going Global. He informs his audience of how we are

trying to figure out ways to control the opioid epidemic, in hopes of keeping it from spreading

across the globe. Humphreys give us information pertaining to opioid distribution. He says

Opioid manufacturers have been successful in supplying opioids to both North America and

Canada. The same companies are moving their tactics to other continents. The author believes

that we are in need of a pain scale that is accurate. His reasons are effectively stated as he give us

great Ethos as how people can go into a doctor’s office and rate their pain. Doctors relying on

and have to trust patients’ scaling as far as how they are feeling. Humphreys goes over the

importance of an honest code that has to be established by the patients themselves. He

highlights Pharmaceutical company lawsuits by the government from the damages that have

been done to patients by the opioids. He informs us that because of these lawsuits Drug

companies have to explain risks and provide more warning labels for patients. With the

regulations that we have in place in order to battle the crisis, we still have to worry about the

black market. The author states that Black Market alternatives are still available to patients.

Through Logos, the author is able to show us that 80 percent of heroin addicts started on opioids.

He tells us about the escalation of the crisis to Germany as well as Australia.

Resource 5: Opioid Crackdown has Patients Struggling to get their Meds

Armour, Stephanie. "Opioid Crackdown has Patients Struggling to Get their Meds." Wall Street
Journal Online, 26 Apr. 2018. SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com.

In her Article, Stephanie Armour talks about the negative impacts of New Government Rules

and Restriction on opioids on patients. She has a conversation with a patient, Evalyn Lopez who
voices her struggles since the new laws. Her frustration with not being able to have easier access

to the medication after having been a cancer survivor. Did lawmakers forget about patients with

a legitimate need such as cancer survivors like Ms. Lopez? The article gives the later perspective

as how these regulations are affect patients. We have doctors who have stopped prescribing

medications which patients have been taking for years, pharmacies who are now refusing to

stock opioids on their shelves, and insurance companies are limiting coverage as far as quantity,

day supply and strength. Ultimately, it almost seems as if the Government is harming or

forgetting about patients that in substantial need of the mediations. How do we ensure that

patients who really need the medications are not suffering?

The author writes from the Wall Street Journal, which is a well-known and credible Journal. The

article is somewhat subjective in the sense it makes one as a reader think about what can be

done. If what the Government is, doing is really benefiting the people or hurting them. The CDC

confirms 115 deaths per day that are Opioid related. The limitations, which are in place, are

driving patients to the illegal use of more potent drugs. Some patients are even committing

suicide due to the limitations. Patients like Evalyn Lopez who are so many years in after having

endured 8 months of chemo treatment with a cancer that is still in remission.

This source is extremely useful in the fact that it gives us a scope of how the patient is affected

with all the methods that are being put in place to tackle the crisis. There is a strong sense of

emotion, which appeals to Pathos. I feel like that is important to be able to view the crisis from

the patient’s perspective. Yes, we have all these rules and regulations in place, but how are they

affecting patients who have a legitimate need for treatment? I think that the Government is aware
of this problem hence why pharmaceutical companies are trying to come up with alternate

therapy that is not addictive.

Resource 6: Don’t Blame Pain Pills for the Opioid Crisis

Sullum, Jacob. "Don't Blame Pain Pills for the Opioid Crisis." Reason, Feb. 2018, pp. 15. SIRS
Issues Researcher, https://sks-sirs-com.libprox1.slcc.edu.

The author’s view on the opioid crisis is in opposition to the President’s Commission

regarding how the crisis can be tackled. While Governor Chris Christie has stood with the

commission in regards to how patients get addicted to prescription opioids, which is the cause in

mortality, Jacob Sallum believes otherwise. He does not think that opioids are the cause; he

believes it involves multi-drug users and those who have substance abuse history. He highlights

that one of the reasons that patients are more susceptible to falling into the path of addiction is

due to mental health issues. There seem to be more underlying issues that he puts into

perspective that lead people to becoming addicted. Because he believes that we fighting more

than just an opioid epidemic, it is a combination epidemic where fighting the opioid is only

causing more harm to patients. He also brings up a point about how the restrictions on opioids

have lead many patients to suicide.

Jacob Sallum wrote this article from the Libertarian Magazine. The magazine is a

libertarian magazine. The author speaks subjectively as you can tell that he making a clear

argument. There is no guessing where he stands because he makes arguments against policies,

which are against opioids. This is also evident in his title as he advises his audience to stop

blaming opioids for the crisis. Jacob uses the President’s Commission and Governor Christie’s

statements for his arguments. He quotes them and then immediately provides an oppositional
stance. According to a 2016 analysis of opioid-related fatalities in Massachusetts, just 8 percent

of the descendants “had an opioid prescription the same months as their deaths.” Prescription

opioids were the deadliest drug in just 5 percent of the cases while 85% of the cases involved

heroin/fentanyl. A patient that Sallum had the opportunity to speak to stated, “If they go through

with those recommendations, I may as well drive my car off a cliff”.

I feel good about using some of the information I have found from this article, as it is

pertinent in showing the audience the other point of view. We have to be able to be honest with

ourselves that it is not just the opioids that are the issue; there is also a drug problem. We have to

be able to be honest with ourselves that we may be decreasing the number of deaths that are

related to opioids specifically, but now we are increasing the potential of suicide as well as

deaths related to street drugs. I really enjoyed how the author was able to include mental health,

which is something that can affect patients being on opioids. Mental Health is a factor that

should be discussed or tackled as well. I feel like it is a great source, as we need to be tackling

the crisis not just at one point but also at all of the sides. He does a great job at tackling and

arguing the issue at its core.

Christina Mohlakola
Professor Clint Johnson
English 1010

Research Project Part II: Viewpoint Synthesis

What is the best way to combat the opioid crisis

The opioid is a well-known struggle of our time. We live in a country where many people

are being affected and dying in large numbers on a daily basis. After researching, I came to learn

that the crisis isn’t just within our country, but it is going global. The government has set initiative

as well as new rules and regulations in which pharmaceutical companies have to abide by, in order

to fight the battle. With these preventative measure is the answer to the crisis? What might one say

is the best way to combat the Opioid Crisis? How can we barricade it and keep it from spreading

now that it is making and integrating into our global community?

It seems as if there are many ways in which we can fight the battle, but we still don’t know

which one is superior to them all. We juggle options and strategies in hopes that one of them works.

It is going to take much more than discovering fewer addictive drugs, and being able to share

information. There are people who believe that the Opioid Crisis can be tackled through either

Education, Data-Sharing, or by creating Non-Addictive alternatives.

Most people believe that education is the key. Debra Miller from The Counsel of State

Governments holds the same view regarding education being the perfect tool. In one of her recent

works, Attacking The Opioid Crisis with Policies: Education, she states, “The easiest drug addict

to treat is the one you prevented”. Helping people find alternate methods or creating an awareness

before the damage is done is a good solution to the issue.

 What about tackling the crisis by data sharing? Imagine if all the states were able to record

and gather data on the same platform to where we could systematically keep track of the epidemic.

Many people believe this to be an option including Catherine Martinez from The Yale School of

Law. With this strategy, we would be able to pre-determine future crisis, and believes that this

talks about how data sharing can be impactful in tackling the crisis. We would be able to identify

which communities are being impacted the most, where we need more resources, where the over

prescribing is most prominent, and where the doctor shopper hotspot are. This may be a sound

solution, but why aren’t all the states currently on the same platform? With H.I.P.P.A Rules and

Regulations, how does data sharing impact the patients? How do the patients feel about their

information being shared from one database to another? Could that in turn be a form of privacy

violation? How much information can we share without it violating patients’ rights? With high

rates in mortality, the CDC confirming 91 deaths per day, pharmaceutical companies are starting

to see the damage that is being done by their products. They want to create alternatives which

won’t be as addictive to help fight the crisis. Or more so creating alternatives due to the losses in

finances from Lawsuits. They have chosen to act due to losses in finances, not necessarily the loss

of lives. If the loss of money can cultivate new alternatives that aren’t as addictive, there is a bright

future to look forward to. Something is being done.

If the drug companies started out making drugs that would not destroy peoples’ lives how

would they have been able to keep their businesses alive? Think of additives in fast food. Additives

aside, who would be fueling the fast food industry? This same principle is one that we can apply

to the opioid industry. Except that in the Opioid Crisis, it is an initiative to make money gone

wrong with people dying at a 91 mortality per day. With the success of drug companies in

formulating non-addictive alternatives we would be able to keep patients from walking out of the
doctor’s office with an illness supplemented by another. We go into the doctor’s office for healing,

or treatment, not to gain additional illnesses/diseases on top of the ones we already have. Doctors

are the gateway as to how patients are able to obtain their mediations. It is crucial that they educate

the patients about the effects of the prescriptions. If patients aren’t educated or aware of effects the

drugs they will be taking, they are more susceptible to becoming yet another statistic.

Many patients are aware of these strategies, rules, and regulations that have been put in

place in order to tackle the crisis. Family members are happy about the cutbacks in doctor

prescribing, and manufacture production. Working in the pharmaceutical industry as a technician

I have seen an increase in the back-ordering of some opioid prescriptions and it probably due to

companies limiting distribution. Patients view these new regulations as punishment. These are

patients who feel as if they should not be deprived of their prescriptions because of the

epidemic. Is important to be able to view the crisis from the patient’s perspective. Yes we have

all these rules and regulations in place, but how are they affecting patients who have a legitimate

need for treatment? Patients like Evalyn Lopez from Stephanie Armour’s recent Wall Street

Journal Article says, “[I am now having] to jump through more and more hurdles”, in order to pick

her prescription after a forty-five minute drive to her pharmacy. We have doctors who have stopped

prescribing medications which patients have been taking for years, pharmacies who are now

refusing to stock opioids on their shelves, and insurance companies are limiting coverage as far as

quantity, day supply and strength. Evalyn Lopez is a not only a patient who relies on the opioids

for pain management, but she is a cancer survivor.

Once a patient has been affected by the opioid crisis, families also have to take on the crisis.

It becomes their crisis. The whole world is at stake. The crisis is spreading. I have a mutual

agreement with this stance that we have to be able to share information, but we also have to ensure
that patients have a say as the information is their privacy. We have to be able to gather information

objectively to ensure that patient privacy is still protected within H.I.P.P.A guidelines. Because we

are still struggling to find alternatives, that can benefit patients, I feel that Education is key. Similar

to the way we tackled the tobacco industry through D.A.R.E programs, I feel like similar programs

can be made for the youth. We have to create awareness and keep the epidemic from overflowing

into our next generation.

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