A Deadly Combination

For the first time nationally, drug-related deaths outnumber those from traffic accidents.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drugs killed more people than did vehicles in 2009, the latest year for which statistics are available. Nearly 37,500 people died nationwide.

The death toll from drugs has doubled in the past decade, now claiming a life every 14 minutes. While this was occurring, the number of people killed in traffic accidents has been dropping, mostly because of stricter drunken driving laws and stronger seat-belt enforcement. Safer cars are part of the reason as well — and so is a greater awareness on the part of Americans that using seat belts and designated drivers just make good sense.

So why can't we do the same for drug-related deaths?

The answer is we can, but it will take a change in mindset. The drug war failed because there was too much focus on locking up people and not enough on treating their addictions. Treatment, along with tough enforcement, can help keep people from lapsing into destructive behavior that hurts them and puts the rest of us at risk.

There are not enough alcohol and drug treatment centers in urban and rural areas and, with cuts in social services, little hope of opening more.

Even with such limitations, it makes more sense in most cases to send someone to drug treatment court, which will force them into treatment, than to lock them up and not provide them with the services and advocacy they need to get clean and stay clean.

And a strategy is needed for the growing abuse of prescription drugs such as OxyContin, Vicodin, Xanax and Soma. Doctors are prescribing more drugs for more health problems than ever before. Doctors need to be more responsible to their patients, while patients must realize that not everything can be treated with a pill.

Holistic medicine should be an option in less-severe cases. Proper diet and exercise also help.

While most prescriptions are written for people with true medical needs, many households have cabinets filled with old prescription bottles. In the hands of a teenager looking to experiment, these pills can be dangerous — in the worst scenario, they can be fatal.

It took education, laws and money to get traffic deaths to drop. It will take a similar effort to reduce drug-related deaths. It's time to change strategy.

REPRINTED FROM THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL

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