This Was The Decade Drug Overdoses Killed Nearly Half A Million Americans

Here are my clinical observations about substance abuse disorders (SUD).
In over 5 decades we have become a drug-taking society and culture. When we examine our species going as far back as we can, some among us have always been fascinated w/ psychoactive chemicals. The peak age range of SUD is 18~26 and use commences in early adolescence.

Our clients consume multiple psychoactive agents beyond potent CNS depressants. In therapy I use a biopsychosocial approach and care is personalized and offered over a long time frame to be most efficacious. As some clients put it: "recovery is not a sprint, it is a marathon".

And for the record, the # 1 cause of premature morbidity and mortality is nicotine, and # 2 is alcohol. Both can be obtained legally at age 21. And some in the treatment community regard, sadly, that SUD is self-inflicted.
Rich

I see this struggle daily. I am a Police Officer at a Regional Medical Center and can attest to the number of troubled souls that turn to drug abuse to ease their mental anguish. Unfortunately the system is imperfect in dealing with many of these people and in handling the epidemic as merely a symptom of disease. Many are not held accountable for actions that hurt others and drastically deplete resources that could benefit others. Many see the advent of "Narcan" as a savior so that they can keep on pushing the limit on how much or often they consume. I have seen people in the emergency department four time in one week taking multiple doses of Narcan to revive/rescue them each time, from their own reckless decisions only to come back a fifth time on the weekend and despite the best efforts of all medical professionals including a medflight to a larger hospital, they didn't survive. I am not sure what the right answer is but I am positive that absolving all the legal consequences of creating these situations is not working either. Accountability may be a necessary step in solving this dilemma and ensuring that individuals are invested in their own recovery.