Pubdate: Wed, 08 Jul 2015
Source: Express-Times, The (PA)
Copyright: 2015 The Express-Times
Contact: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/sendaletter/
Website: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/expresstimes/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1489
Author: Dan Lyons

ILLEGAL DRUG USE ON THE RISE AMONG AMERICANS

A dangerous word in regard to drugs is "addiction." Pope Francis 
described "the scourge of drug use" spreading through society. 
Nothing can be more habit-forming.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that nearly 10 percent 
of Americans use illegal drugs. Ten years ago it was 8.3 percent. 
Drug use remains most common among people in their late teens and 
20s, but has seriously increased among people in their 50s.

More than 9 percent of our population use an illicit drug, or use 
pain relievers or tranquilizers. In the year 2013 the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly 40,000 deaths in the 
U.S. were caused by drug overdoses.

Drug addiction changes the brain and how it works. Drug users get 
depressed and need the drug to feel good again.

Dan Lyons

Bloomsbury
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