According to the Center for Disease Control, there were over 72,000 overdose deaths last year — the majority from opioids. These numbers are staggering. President Trump's executive order to address this crisis was applauded from all corners. Now, months since that order, there is a growing sense of need for more concrete action. With deaths increasing year after year, this is a national scourge begging for attention and action.
This crisis knows no bounds. It is an equal opportunity offender, affecting all demographic and socio-economic groups. The stories are heart-wrenching: babies born already addicted — suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome; opioid orphans whose parents have tragically died at the hands of this disease; parents notified of the death of their child, in spite of the fact that their loved one had previously been treated for multiple overdoses without any parental notification; jobs lost to addiction, families devastated, communities torn apart and struggling to contend with the epidemic.
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