social--ideas

[social--ideas]

In 2016, approximately 11,824,000 Americans reported misusing or abusing an opioid. This number makes up about 1/4 of all people who reported misusing either a prescribed or illicit drug.

[social--ideas]

addiction is a public health crisis. suffering from a disease should not be a criminal offense.

[social--ideas]

Research shows that medication-assisted treatment, a combination of therapy and medication such as buprenorphine or methadone, is the most effective intervention for opioid addiction, and that these medications reduce mortality by half or more. Yet Maddie, like most prisoners, never received treatment while incarcerated -- fewer than 1% of jails and prisons in the US administer FDA-approved addiction medications like methadone or buprenorphine.

[social--ideas]

Researchers say one reason there is so much stigma around drug use is that many people view addiction as a moral weakness. Leo Beletsky, a public health researcher from Northeastern University, says stigma enters the political discourse "around personal responsibility versus coddling and enabling."

He says the argument over whether drug users should simply "just say no" distracts us from what needs to be the top priority: saving lives.

"Look, if you want the person to take personal responsibility, you have to give them the tools to do that. And unless you revive the person who is dying, they are not going to take personal responsibility for anything."

[social--ideas]

addiction is not a moral failure or a choice. addiction is a disease and a mental health issue, and we owe it to those struggling to treat is as such.