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Dying to Live
Publisher's Greeting
Families want to know more about opioid addiction, prevention and treatment. Recently an Our Health Matters™ reader called to thank us for approaching the topic of the opioid crisis. She shared that her 26-year-old granddaughter has an opioid addiction and just recently went into treatment in California. I could feel her pain. She wanted to know more about opioids and how she could help her granddaughter.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, every day, more than 130 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids. The misuse of and addiction to opioids — including prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl — is a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as social and economic welfare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the total "economic burden" of prescription opioid misuse alone in the United States is $78.5 billion a year, including the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and criminal justice involvement.
In the July-August edition, we explain what is causing increased deaths; how Missouri and Kansas are approaching the epidemic; what policies and resources have been made available and encourage families to seek help from community organizations and their medical providers for alternatives to pain management.
Get to know COMBAT director Vince Ortega. He is sounding off about edible marijuana products that can lure kids into experimenting with drugs. E-cigarettes and vaping have become a fad and a harmful one, at that.
Let's get and stay healthy.
​I would love to hear from you. Email me personally at [email protected].
Ryan Iguchi
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