Having the opportunity to be a “fly on the wall” for an addiction recovery meeting was a powerful experience. Hearing the stories of those recovering from a past of addiction was eye-opening. Understanding how their actions began as ‘fun’ which rapidly evolved into despair was profound. It is easy to feel isolated from the possibility of falling into addiction, especially if you have never been exposed to that type of behavior, but each testimony revealed that each of us are only one poor decision away from becoming a part of the statistic. West Virginia has the highest rate of drug overdoses in the United States. In fact, more of our citizens lose their life to drug overdoses than they do in car accidents! It is critical to be aware of this epidemic and the immense affects that addiction has on our neighbors so that we might work to eradicate the statistic altogether.
Addiction is a complex social problem that cannot be resolved with a temporary fix. We must address systemic dysfunctions in order to make effective change. First, confronting “Big Pharma” to discuss the over-prescription of addictive pain medications such as OxyContin or Vicodin. Replacing these drugs with less addictive supplements, or perhaps introducing natural remedies, could serve as a great stepping stone into further improvements. Next, West Virginia legislatures, as well as our national representatives, must insist on making the opioid crisis a pressing issue. Without legal regulations and federal funding, our state cannot create rehabilitation centers (or programs) that could greatly alleviate the overdose statistics. Lastly, as neighbors, we have to begin supporting those in our state fighting addiction. Rather than treating drug/alcohol abuse as an individual failure, we need to shift our attention to mending the institutional downfalls first. This alteration of perception would be groundbreaking. If we could listen to the stories of people struggling with addiction through this lens, we would gain insight and realize the humanity of human strife. Empathy goes further than we might think.