Pubdate: Fri, 29 Jan 2016
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2016 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Peter Provet
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n032/a07.html

THE HEAVY TOLL OF DRUG OVERDOSES

To the Editor:

The dramatic increase in drug overdose deaths is not new to drug 
treatment. For several years treatment providers have been racing to 
save the lives of young Americans addicted to opioids as what started 
as a surge in prescription drug abuse morphed into a full-blown 
opioid epidemic.

It is also not news that intensive residential and outpatient 
treatment services are in short supply, and what resources are 
available in many parts of the country are often prohibitively 
expensive for the vulnerable populations who need them the most.

That today's vulnerable addicts now include growing numbers of young 
white Americans highlights the tragedy of opioid addiction as a great 
equalizer.

Decades of experience treating young people from inner-city 
communities ravaged by drugs has shown us that recovery is a 
multistep, time-consuming process that, for the fortunate ones who 
are helped quickly enough, starts with overdose-prevention injections 
and detox, and continues with medically assisted treatment, behavior 
therapy and continuing community-based support.

Anything less just doesn't work and is merely a Band-Aid that will 
inevitably lead to the loss of more young lives - tragically, lives 
we know how to save.

PETER PROVET

President and Chief Executive

Odyssey House

New York
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom