It’s time to kick our addiction to the war on drugs
Expecting the criminal justice system to solve a health crisis does more harm than good
Stat (US)
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
As New Jersey Governor Chris Christie takes the lead in crafting the Trump administration’s response to the opioid crisis, he and his colleagues need to understand that we can’t fix the problem until we kick our long-term addiction to the war on drugs and accept overdoses for what they are: a health issue. Although the majority of Americans who consume illicit drugs do so without addiction, opioid overdose has become a deadly reality. Every day, 120 to 140 people in the US die from drug overdoses, more than from gunshot wounds or car accidents. About 90 of these are due to opioids.
