According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, the leading cause of accidental death in 2015 was drug overdose. The life toll from the drug epidemic has been consistently growing over the past couple of years with opiate addiction and overdose being one of the lead causes.

Each year, more people use drugs for the first time and wind up addicted. Right now, the highest number of opiate overdoses are in the Northeast. The problem originally started with heroin as the main contributor however newer drugs have begun to escalate the problem. Fentanyl has begun to be mixed into heroin with devastating consequences. This combination is so potent there have been fatal overdoses of non-users who merely got the substance on their skin.

Now more than ever, those in our country who are struggling with substance abuse need help getting into a heroin addiction rehab. According to the Center for Disease Control or CDC, drug overdose deaths have increased more than 2.5 times compared to what they were in 1999. In fact, according to a study by experts at 10 universities, the problem can get much worse. At this point, the best-case scenario would be overdose deaths peaking in 2020 before going down and that would require government support.

Please write your local officials and senators to begin taking action to combat the opiate epidemic and steer us away from the disaster course we are on. There are many different approaches to the challenge of how to address the opiate epidemic. For more information visit: http://www.narcononnewliferetreat.org/blog/the-horrifying-future-of-the-heroin-epidemic.html

Aaron Olson

Narconon New Life Retreat

Denham Springs, La.