Drug overdose deaths in 2016 most likely exceeded 59,000, the largest annual jump ever recorded in the United States, according to preliminary data compiled by The New York Times. The death count is the latest consequence of an escalating public health crisis: opioid addiction, now made more deadly by an influx of illicitly manufactured fentanyl and similar drugs. Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death among Americans under 50.
Although the data is preliminary, the Times’s best estimate is that deaths rose 19 percent over the 52,404 recorded in 2015. And all evidence suggests the problem has continued to worsen in 2017 Opioid addiction is America’s 50-state epidemic. It courses along Interstate highways in the form of cheap smuggled heroin and flows out of “pill mill” clinics where pain medicine is handed out like candy.
The fight is not up to the Federal Government or the State and Local governments alone. It is up to each of us. Addiction is a disease characterized by human pain and suffering. No addict or alcoholic wants to be where they are. They want out. Who can show them the road? Look in the mirror. Reach out to someone who needs help. Let them know you love and care about them and will do everything to help them out of the place they are in. That’s what we are here for – the Voice of God is simple, no matter your faith – LOVE GOD, LOVE MAN.