There are calls from around the state for the state Legislature to reconvene a special session to renew Gov. Tom Wolf’s opioid emergency declaration.

The declaration expires Aug. 26, and there are many who fear the expiration of the current order could hurt those who are battling opioid addiction. Those legislators’ and community advocates’ hearts are in the right place, but is governing by emergency declaration really the best way to handle the state’s business? In our view, the answer is no.

Wolf declared the opioid emergency declaration in January 2018 and renewed that declaration 12 times in the past three years. The governor has used that authority to give the state the power to share prescription data and set prescription limits, increase treatment access, increase access to the naloxone and establish safe disposal methods for unused drugs. There is nothing wrong with those policies. In fact, they have probably helped thousands of Pennsylvanians help achieve sobriety.

The problem is Pennsylvania’s opioid addiction problem hardly fits the definition of emergency – a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action. Opioid dependency is, frankly, expected. There are warnings on these substances that they can be addictive. Opioid dependence is not a massive flood or snowstorm that pops up out of the blue and requires a state disaster declaration for state and federal aid to municipalities. Opioids are a long-term fight, not something that can be wrapped up quickly.

If these programs are necessary — and we think they are — they should be codified into state law so that they no longer fall whim to the political games played so often in Harrisburg. If the legislature reconvenes, it should not approve another disaster declaration. It should pass a more permanent solution.