I was just thinking, 175 people per day. That's like a jet airliner crashing every day with no survivors. Can you imagine what we would be doing to the airlines if a jet crashed every single day, 7 days a week for a whole year? Quite frankly I would imagine there would be a shutdown on air travel until the problems were identified and rectified. Every person in the nation would be talking about the danger and risks.
What should we be doing with a problem like that but the people are not on a jet. 175 people per day just as dead as if they were on a jet. What should we be doing about big pharma and the drug war? I written about our national drug war on addicts before. Granted some of these deaths are from already illegal substances but how many were because a person became addicted to a legally prescribed drug and suffer the consequences of addiction?
Seven people per hour, these people aren't just some low life drug addict as a lot of people unacquainted with the disease of addiction assume. These 7 people are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers. They are loved by people and died from a horrible disease.
Next week I will be speaking to high school students. YES, I will be adding this horrible statistic to me talk.
Symbolic gestures show empathy. Now is the time to move past symbolic gestures. It's time for our government AND our communities to stand up to this epidemic. Be involved, no one is expected to save 175 people each day but if you are the difference that saves ONE that makes you a hero.
3 comments:
As a recovering addict I decided to share my story with the world in hopes of helping someone, somewhere, someday.
Check out my blog and follow or share with your family and friends.
Thank You
https://menachemsblog.blogspot.com/
HOLY. "That's like a jet airliner crashing every day with no survivors."
EYE-OPENING. And you KNOW if a plane crashed every single day, it would be all over the news and people would go nuts.
And yet the drug on war is pretty much sweeped under the rug lol. I think it's because of 1) the stigma, everyone knows an addict but nobody wants to really talk about addiction and 2) BIG PHARMA wants to keep pushing drugs and it doesn't exactly shed them in a good light the more people realize how much they eff up.
I've never actually imagined how many people this is - until you said it! A plane a day... Very sobering thought, but makes me immediately mad at the world that nothing seems to be getting done about this! My only hope is that a solution is found before one of my loved ones who suffers from an addiction, succumbs and adds to the statistic.
Post a Comment