BRATTLEBORO — The opioid epidemic, as any addiction, is a complicated disease with no easy answer. One letter writer (Mr. Finnell) said he believes the epidemic is happening because the drugs are illegal. This view does not include the fact that many opioid-like drugs are available by prescription, making doctors as well as drug manufacturers complicit in this horrific public health emergency. Man-made addictictve drugs leave people craving more of the good feeling, the relief. Many turn to street drugs subsequent to the prescribed treatment.
Addiction is a disease, horrible to manage and lethal if not. It does not happen because a substance is or is not legal. An example: Alcohol is legal to buy by adults over 21 years old, but the disease of alcoholism, addiction to alcohol, still abounds. Like diabetes, addiction to any substance can be managed successfully by following a protocol found to be effective. Without following said suggested protocol, addiction of any kind can, in the end, be lethal while wreaking havoc in many lives in the long drawn out and painful process.
The current opioid epidemic needs our attention, diligence, determination, and perseverance. We CAN have a healthy vibrant drug-free community with a collective will for health. Let us put our heads, hearts, and souls into finding the Way. Compassionate action and understanding can go a long way to healing the broken human connections we now witness and experience.
For a future of our own design,