Recently, the topic of addiction seems to have been getting influx of attention, even among the presidential candidates in the 2016 election. Why is addiction a big them in the 2016 American Election? Why are all the candidates talking about addiction all of a sudden as if it was never there? Is this some political tactics to appeal to the minds of Americans who have been affected by addiction or have had families who died because of addiction?

Well, no one knows the mind of a politician, I believe, but beyond that, I believe drug addiction is something that has affected most families more than any other kind of epidemic, around the world and I guess it has actually reached the politicians too. It wasn’t as if it was never there but they just never decided to face it head on.

So Why the Sudden Addiction Attention

According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in the United States of America alone, more than 23 million people of ages 12 and above have had need for rehabilitation for exposure to illicit drugs, including drugs that were prescribed, and alcohol. This figure is a representation of one person out of every 10 in the United States. These are only random figures, it doesn’t even include people with hidden addiction issues who never come out to request help; it doesn’t include people who are addicted to smoking – that’s more like a normal addiction.

I believe this has gotten bad enough and if the future of America is to be preserved and there will be people to be governed, safe streets and safer America, then the presidential candidates need to start looking for ways of better dealing with the spread of addiction in the society. Some people are of the school of thought that when it was only black people, no one was concerned about it and now that it has reached the white people, then attention is given. As much as I will like to believe that blacks may be more used to substance abuse, it doesn’t mean that whites have not been among the addicted. There have been many white Americans and there are still many more who are dealing with addiction. I believe a more general and realistic point of view is, there is a problem that needs to be tackled and that needs to be done urgently.

If something takes out 1 out of every 10 child in the US, that’s bad enough. Addiction is more like a subtle epidemic. It doesn’t come with red signals. In most cases, it starts with a good intention. A patient is given opioid for pain and by the time he or she is through with pain treatment, there is a craving for the feel good that opioid gives and then addiction begins. Some other youth got exposed to heroin. Just one shot and its like walking on heavens. The he goes back to take more and then, he got hooked absolutely. Everyone could be a victim. According to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who lost a friend to addiction, “It can happen to anyone!”

Come to think of it, the best brains and talents are the ones that are getting stolen everyday by addiction to substance use. People with promising lives just get snatched one day because they never got the right help. I really believe it is time this was tackled. At the time of publishing this article, reports show that heroin use among US youths have doubled over the past 10 years according to CDC. Deaths related to heroin use has quadrupled between 2002 and now. Obviously, if the government does nothing about it, the citizens can do it all by themselves.

How Addiction should be viewed

In the past, drug addiction has been seen as a king of crime. It’s pretty simple, you get caught with crack, you get jacked by the police. It is a crime to be in possession of narcotics, period! While this has worked in the past to help reduce the circulation and distribution of these harmful substances, it hardly can work in today’s settings. One way of tackling the spread of addiction is to view drug use as issues of public health rather than issues of crime. This has been the general consensus now among the politicians.

When it becomes the issues of health, people tend to get aware and come forward for help. Many youths fear that if they present themselves for treatment for addiction based on substance abuse, they may get arrested and thrown into the prison. Once they all know this is not so, they most likely will come forward because the truth is, no one really wants to stay addicted.

So if addiction is a big theme in the 2016 American Election and all the candidates are talking about it, then it’s a right step in the right direction, it means it is time for a change and many families won’t have to keep losing their loved ones to substance use addictions.

You are invited to the Aware Med Network’s Integrative addiction conference where bothering issues on addiction and ways forward will be discussed.