comprehensive strategy to turn the tide against addiction inAmerica and build a national movement – as exists with every othermajor health issue – to bring a uni ed voice and sustainable source of funding to this e ort. On October 4, 2015, Facing Addiction made history on the National Mall, when tens of thousands gathered to end the silence surrounding addiction. is was the rst time major musicians, politicians, actors, athletes, models, journalists, authors, and advocates joined together to create a united voice, supporting Facing Addiction’s pledge to help solve the most urgent health crisis of our time. It was the AIDS-quilt moment for addiction in America. Since that transformative event, Facing Addiction has become the leading voice in the e ort to end addiction in our country, and has accomplished many important things (please see our Impact Report at www.facingaddiction.org). Still, because of the stigma, shame, and misunderstanding surrounding addiction, many ask if we can truly reverse this problem. e answer is, unconditionally, yes. First, we must educate people and remove the stigma. People must understand that addiction is an illness, not a matter of moral failing. It happens to good people who no more want to become addicted than others want to get cancer, heart disease, or diabetes. People must realize addiction can and does happen to folks like them, and Austin, not just “those people.” Paradoxically, addiction is not inherently fatal; it is treatable and recovery is real. But people must understand the risks. One in every seven Americans will experience a substance use disorder. When someone shows signs of struggling, they need to get medical help…quickly. Second, we must make accurate information readily accessible, in a trusted place, so people who need help know where to turn. Facing Addiction , with our partners, created the Addiction Resource Hub, available on our website, that lists 20,000 assets, searchable by geography, to help people with all aspects of addiction – prevention,
shi away from treating addiction as a crime, to treating it as an illness. Lastly, we must fund advocacy to amplify our voices, and research to nd a cure. America has faced other health crises throughout history and, each time, foundways to dramatically lessen their impact. irty- ve years ago, people thought HIV/AIDS, another highly stigmatized illness, was insurmountable. But since the AIDS quilt moment in 1983, great strides have been made to reduce its devastation – with $3 billion raised toward that end. Families and corporations donate generously to combat other illnesses that devastate our country, but donate virtually nothing to ghting addiction. Perhaps it is the sense of hopelessness, which is unfounded. Perhaps it is a reliance upon government to lead, which is unlikely. If families reading this article, whose lives have been
THE FRAY PERFORMING ON THE NATIONAL MALL
impacted by addiction, were to donate $25 per month to Facing Addiction , we would raise tens of millions of dollars annually, dramatically accelerating our ability to help millions su ering, save tens of thousands of lives, and prevent countless more from becoming addicted. Can we truly achieve those results? Yes. Facing Addiction partnered with the U.S. Surgeon General on the release of his seminal report, Alcohol, Drugs and Health: Facing Addiction in America, last November. While providing an
L TO R: AUSTINWITH HIS DAD AT SUMMER CAMP; JIM HOOD SPEAKING AT FACING ADDICTION’S EVENTWITH THE SURGEON GENERAL IN LOS ANGELES IN NOVEMBER, 2016
intervention, treatment, recovery, and advocacy. is is the most comprehensive addiction resource ever assembled, and is already helping countless people. ird, we must remove impediments that have been holding back progress for decades. We need to replace ine ective prevention programs with evidence-based programs that work. Pediatricians need to be trained to identify early signs of addiction, since 90% of the time addiction starts in adolescence, yet most pediatricians received no medical school training about this illness. We need to get addiction “treatment” out of shadowy establishments in Florida and California, and into the mainstream healthcare system. And we must continue the
unvarnished statement about the enormous magnitude of this crisis, the report also provided great hope. It rea rmed that addiction is a treatable illness. It documented that $1 spent an evidence-based intervention can yield an ROI of 58:1. And $1 spent on treatment yields $4 in health care savings plus $7 in criminal justice savings. Nowhere can your donations work harder. More than 50 years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of “the erce urgency of now” when discussing a very di erent crisis in America. We must focus today’s “ erce urgency of now” on the addiction crisis in America, before we lose an entire generation of our youth. Please help…It’s time. *
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