The Authentic Eclectic
The War On Drugs Failed
Grieving parents want a different approach.
In 2020, in the United States, 93,000 people died from drug harms.
In 2016, Canada declared opioid use a public health emergency. Since then, more than 22,000 people have died from tainted drugs.
Most of these people were young adults who used drugs for a variety of reasons. Some suffered from substance use disorder, which is listed in the DSM-5 as a disease. Some had mental health issues or past traumas that they were trying to treat with drugs. Some were prescribed opioids for pain relief after surgery and were suddenly cut off, leaving them to self-medicate. Some were using party drugs, much as we used alcohol or pot when we were younger. The drugs they used were purchased on the street, therefore illegal, the same as the alcohol and pot we purchased.
The difference now is that the drugs available on the street are poisoned, much like the home-made alcohol during prohibition was.
A drug poisoning death of a young adult hurts their children, their parents, their siblings, their extended family, their work colleagues, and their friends. A conservative estimate of the number of people affected might be 20, for each person.
