OP ED: by Hillary Clinton: How we can win the fight against substance abuse

[riversedge]

ICYMI...
Since the NH primanry is coming up soon --this op -ed may refresh some minds about this policy



Another View -- Hillary Clinton: How we can win the fight against substance abuse

By HILLARY CLINTON



ON MY first trip to New Hampshire this spring, a retired doctor spoke up. I had just announced I was running for President, and I had traveled to Iowa and New Hampshire to hear from voters about their concerns, their hopes and their vision for the future. He said his biggest worry was the rising tide of heroin addiction in the state, following a wave of prescription drug abuse.

To be candid, I didn’t expect what came next. In state after state, this issue came up again and again — from so many people, from all walks of life, in small towns and big cities.

In Iowa, from Davenport to Council Bluffs, people talked about meth and prescription drugs. In South Carolina, a lawyer spoke movingly about the holes in the community left by generations of African American men imprisoned for nonviolent drug offenses, rather than getting the treatment they needed.

These stories shine light on some harrowing statistics. Twenty-three million Americans suffer from addiction, but only 1 in 10 get treatment. Fifty-two million Americans over 12 have misused prescription drugs at some point, including one in four teenagers. In 2013, more Americans died from overdoses than car crashes.

This is not new. We’re not just now “discovering” this problem. But we should be saying enough is enough. It’s time we recognize as a nation that for too long, we have had a quiet epidemic on our hands. Plain and simple, drug and alcohol addiction is a disease, not a moral failing — and we must treat it as such.

It’s time we recognize that there are gaps in our health care system that allow too many to go without care — and invest in treatment. It’s time we recognize that our state and federal prisons, where 65 percent of inmates meet medical criteria for substance use disorders, are no substitute for proper treatment — and reform our criminal justice system.

Today I’m releasing a strategy to confront the drug and alcohol addiction crisis..................
- See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150901/OPINION02/150909909&source=RSS#sthash.BvIh3Ik2.dpuf

[stonecutter357]

1. K&R!

[Nitram]

2. K&R

[Iliyah]

3. As a caregiver to one of my relatives that recently went through withdrawals

but is still have chronic pains . . . . K & R

[yallerdawg]

4. This is a good plan!

"My plan sets five goals:

empower communities to prevent drug use among teenagers;

ensure every person suffering from addiction can obtain comprehensive treatment;

ensure that all first responders carry naloxone, which can stop overdoses from becoming fatal;

require health care providers to receive training in recognizing substance use disorders and to consult a prescription drug monitoring program before prescribing controlled substances;

and prioritize treatment over prison for low-level and nonviolent drug offenders, so we can end the era of mass incarceration."

[Cha]

5. Thank you, Hillary.. covering all the issues! So important!

Mahalo rivers!