Substance abuse and misuse are among the primary health issues in the United States today, according to a new report published by the Office of the Surgeon General.
The paper titled "Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General's Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health," published Nov. 17 in the JAMA Network, is the first of its type to focus mainly on substance consumption, ranging from misuse and other related harms all the way to abuse.
The report shows that the issue is not only a criminal justice problem — it also falls under the jurisdiction of public health, given the very high number of people affected by these practices.
Severe Increase Of Drug Abuse Cases
To support the claim that drug abuse and related substance consumption present a serious health issue, the report states that roughly 21 million people are suffering from substance use disorder in the United States, higher than the number of patients diagnosed with any type of cancer.
According to the report, at least one in seven people will experience a substance use problem in the future. In 2014 alone, when 32,744 people died in car accidents all over the country, there were roughly 50,000 deaths caused by opioid, alcohol or any other overdose the same year.
The report is similar to previous attempts of the Surgeon General to combat smoking or the spread of HIV; and the paper is used as a means to create awareness among the vulnerable people and those close to them, who should contact specialized help.
Possible Treatments For Substance Addiction
Regarding the possible solutions to this health issue, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy noted that there is no single solution. However, he strongly suggested creating more policies that would increase the patients' access to types of treatment that have been proven to be efficient in the past, in order to guarantee the recovery of those who undergo treatment.
"We also need a cultural shift in how we think about addiction. For far too long, too many in our country have viewed addiction as a moral failing," he added.
This moral crisis of America, as Murthy calls the increased levels of addiction of multiple types of substances, should be fought together, which constitutes the main reason of publishing the report. Awareness is not only something to be done among the circles of addicts, but a social act of support.
According to the paper, more than 500,000 American people died because of overdoses since 2000, and addressing the brain structure of the addiction requires new therapies and toleration from those around the people affected by this epidemic.
