To be sure, the causes of drug overdose deaths are multiple and complex. The Jan. 2o KJ focused on this in both sections A1 and B1. It is tragic. Too many, too young, too soon.

This is not an unsolvable problem but I believe we are misdirecting our focus in such a way that we lose focus on what the problem is. Thanks to invested medical researchers, over the past 50 years, our picture and understanding of addiction as a disease, is much improved. So too has treatment because of this, except in one very important area.

Despite the pioneering breakthroughs in our understanding of addiction we seem stuck or perhaps unwilling to budge from concentrating on substances as the problem.

Fentanyl does not kill. Addiction does. Heroin does not kill. Addiction does. Cocaine, alcohol and many others do not kill. Addiction does.

Addiction is a medical disease that involves both the neurochemistry and neuro network that transports those chemicals. It is primarily caused by genetics and is in place and beginning its symptoms long before first use.

By continuing our focus on substances we are chasing the horse that has left the barn. Substance use is a symptom of the disease but not the disease itself.

Thus the focus needs to be a concentration of helping those with the disease that it was never a choice they had. They are victims of a neurochemical genetic network that creates imbalances and causes the multiple unhealthy thoughts and actions that result from these imbalances.

Let’s stop focusing on an obvious symptom and redirect to the actual disease. Drugs are not the disease. Biology is and there are healthy innovative ways to help those with the disease. until then we’ll just keep chasing the horse.

Robert Creamer

Hallowell