Substance Abuse Issues Get Presidential Candidate’s Attention

Posted by azdrugrehabctr on April 23, 2015 under Addiction Trends, Opiate Abuse, Prescription Drugs | Comments are off for this article

The 2016 race to become the next President of the United States has officially begun with multiple hopefuls announcing their candidacy recently. Hillary Clinton is one of those seeking the office of Commander in Chief. As she began a tour throughout the U.S., she admitted that she was unaware that substance abuse issues were so extreme in the country. She explained that she understood that drug use was a continuing problem throughout the nation, but up until she began meeting with constituents, had no idea that people felt so strongly and that so many people were affected by the drug epidemic in the United States.

“I want to hear from people of New Hampshire what’s on their minds. I have to tell you, before I went to Iowa last week I wasn’t aware of the depth of feeling people had about substance abuse issues, so here again, I heard it in New Hampshire, so I want people to know that I’m listening,” explained Clinton during her stop to New Hampshire. Like other candidates, she will be covering areas that are considered key for primary elections.

Clinton discussed that she wants to see more resources allocated for people to be able to get the treatment they need. There may be more things that can be done to stop the drug problem in our country from escalating to epidemic proportions though. Educating doctors and healthcare providers that prescription narcotics are not the only solution to pain management and helping them understand the signs of drug abuse and drug seeking behavior are all important topics to tackle.

Hillary Clinton went on to say that she wants to make drug abuse and mental health problems a serious focus of her campaign. Will other candidates step up to speak in favor of substance abuse treatment and prevention? They should take some cues from the fact that there are record numbers of overdose-related deaths in our country. Saving lives is way more important than foreign trade or economic issues.