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As We Confront a Pandemic, the Opiate Crisis Offers Lessons What the World Needs Now Is Grace
(about 16 hours later)
The past five years have been a remarkable time for America’s opiate-addiction epidemic, now a generation old.The past five years have been a remarkable time for America’s opiate-addiction epidemic, now a generation old.
The country finally took notice. Media coverage, resources, options, research and acceptance of addicts — all of that expanded. All of that has now been paused or limited as the country confronts the coronavirus.The country finally took notice. Media coverage, resources, options, research and acceptance of addicts — all of that expanded. All of that has now been paused or limited as the country confronts the coronavirus.
As disastrous as the Covid-19 pandemic has been and will be, it is especially painful for those whose lives already revolved around America’s long-ignored epidemic of opiate addiction.As disastrous as the Covid-19 pandemic has been and will be, it is especially painful for those whose lives already revolved around America’s long-ignored epidemic of opiate addiction.
Drug treatment depends to an extraordinary degree on communing with people, sitting down with them in a counselor’s office, mentoring others and attending meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous. “Don’t isolate,” recovering addicts are told. That’s because addiction deprives people of connection to others by convincing them that nothing is more important than their own gratification. When we enter addiction, we come to embody the “me-first” impulse and become hyperconsumers, obediently consuming one product daily, to the exclusion of all else in life. Drug treatment depends to an extraordinary degree on communing with people, sitting down with them in a counselor’s office, mentoring others and attending meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous. “Don’t isolate,” recovering addicts are told. That’s because addiction deprives people of connection to others by convincing them that nothing is more important than their own gratification. When we enter addiction, we come to embody the “me-first” impulse and become hyperconsumers, obediently consuming one product daily, to the exclusion of all else in life.
So simply getting dressed, leaving the house and heading to a counseling appointment can be significant therapy for those imprisoned in addiction. Counselors understand the significance of personal connection.So simply getting dressed, leaving the house and heading to a counseling appointment can be significant therapy for those imprisoned in addiction. Counselors understand the significance of personal connection.
“When you meet somebody in your office and you look them in the eye, shake their hand and offer them a glass of water, you watch the tension leave their body as you engage them,” Steve Walkenhorst, a veteran drug counselor in Cincinnati, told me. “They see pictures of your kids on the wall, they relax. All of that stuff is so important.”“When you meet somebody in your office and you look them in the eye, shake their hand and offer them a glass of water, you watch the tension leave their body as you engage them,” Steve Walkenhorst, a veteran drug counselor in Cincinnati, told me. “They see pictures of your kids on the wall, they relax. All of that stuff is so important.”
Now personal contact — large 12-step meetings and in-person counseling appointments — has ceased. So have vocational training for addicts and, especially alarming, many detox programs where addicts purge the dope that has governed their actions.Now personal contact — large 12-step meetings and in-person counseling appointments — has ceased. So have vocational training for addicts and, especially alarming, many detox programs where addicts purge the dope that has governed their actions.
Many addicts in recovery found that what jobs they could get with no experience were at the low end of the economy that they can’t do at home — in restaurants for example. Many have now been laid off. Early reports from areas hard hit by addiction are that relapse has increased in recent weeks.Many addicts in recovery found that what jobs they could get with no experience were at the low end of the economy that they can’t do at home — in restaurants for example. Many have now been laid off. Early reports from areas hard hit by addiction are that relapse has increased in recent weeks.
Some addicts have returned to the roots of AA, which began in the 1930s with two men meeting. “There’s power in talking,” said Will Pfefferman, who runs a large, now-suspended AA meeting in Covington, Ky. Some meetings have migrated to online video conferencing platforms, as have county drug courts, where recovering addicts were finding their footing in weekly visits with a judge. Yet many recovering addicts can’t afford internet access. And online connections lack the energy of in-person meetings.Some addicts have returned to the roots of AA, which began in the 1930s with two men meeting. “There’s power in talking,” said Will Pfefferman, who runs a large, now-suspended AA meeting in Covington, Ky. Some meetings have migrated to online video conferencing platforms, as have county drug courts, where recovering addicts were finding their footing in weekly visits with a judge. Yet many recovering addicts can’t afford internet access. And online connections lack the energy of in-person meetings.
“This is an anxiety-producing time,” said Michael Botticelli, the former U.S. drug czar, who now runs the Grayken Center for Addiction at Boston Medical Center. “It‘s way too easy for people with histories of addiction to fall back into that isolation.”“This is an anxiety-producing time,” said Michael Botticelli, the former U.S. drug czar, who now runs the Grayken Center for Addiction at Boston Medical Center. “It‘s way too easy for people with histories of addiction to fall back into that isolation.”
Our opiate-addiction epidemic, I’ve long believed, is rooted in destruction of community and the culture of isolation that resulted. Many things forged this culture: our own prosperity, a hidden national reservoir of trauma, the anonymity of suburban living, the departure of jobs and disappearance of Main Street from so many towns, our intensified consumer culture and the corporate marketing of legal, addictive substances (sugar) and activities (gambling and social media).Our opiate-addiction epidemic, I’ve long believed, is rooted in destruction of community and the culture of isolation that resulted. Many things forged this culture: our own prosperity, a hidden national reservoir of trauma, the anonymity of suburban living, the departure of jobs and disappearance of Main Street from so many towns, our intensified consumer culture and the corporate marketing of legal, addictive substances (sugar) and activities (gambling and social media).
Over this, we laid a vast supply of narcotics. First, pain pills were promoted by drug companies and prescribed by doctors coast to coast. Next, traffickers, mostly from Mexico, discovered this new market and happily plied it with heroin, fentanyl and now methamphetamine. So addiction spread, replicating in more desperate and grinding forms the kind of isolation in which many of us already lived.Over this, we laid a vast supply of narcotics. First, pain pills were promoted by drug companies and prescribed by doctors coast to coast. Next, traffickers, mostly from Mexico, discovered this new market and happily plied it with heroin, fentanyl and now methamphetamine. So addiction spread, replicating in more desperate and grinding forms the kind of isolation in which many of us already lived.
Because it affected so many families unprepared for its ravages, the epidemic inspired many of them to a new compassion and charity — qualities they may not have displayed in times when their loved ones weren’t among the afflicted.Because it affected so many families unprepared for its ravages, the epidemic inspired many of them to a new compassion and charity — qualities they may not have displayed in times when their loved ones weren’t among the afflicted.
Pandemics, though, touch every one of us. As we understand how we can affect others, and they us, we may rediscover, each of us, our larger social responsibility. While Covid-19 will be crushing to so many of us, it may also instruct us on the importance of community now that we’ve lost it so suddenly.Pandemics, though, touch every one of us. As we understand how we can affect others, and they us, we may rediscover, each of us, our larger social responsibility. While Covid-19 will be crushing to so many of us, it may also instruct us on the importance of community now that we’ve lost it so suddenly.
We see this now as neighbors come forward to support local businesses, their employees and one another.We see this now as neighbors come forward to support local businesses, their employees and one another.
Even so, stress will no doubt push some of us to behave with the same me-first self-centeredness addicts display, testing our humanity in the process. I saw an Instagram video of a woman who had bought every roll of toilet paper and paper towels at a Dollar Store, flouting it as she loaded her trove into her truck.Even so, stress will no doubt push some of us to behave with the same me-first self-centeredness addicts display, testing our humanity in the process. I saw an Instagram video of a woman who had bought every roll of toilet paper and paper towels at a Dollar Store, flouting it as she loaded her trove into her truck.
But I prefer to imagine that this pandemic will permit us, perhaps after unimaginable tragedy, to perceive our common bonds. Americans learned all this after Pearl Harbor.But I prefer to imagine that this pandemic will permit us, perhaps after unimaginable tragedy, to perceive our common bonds. Americans learned all this after Pearl Harbor.
Maybe this pandemic will also make clear, as the opiate epidemic has for some time now, that we are only as defended as the most vulnerable among us.Maybe this pandemic will also make clear, as the opiate epidemic has for some time now, that we are only as defended as the most vulnerable among us.
“Asking for grace — we’re all asking for grace with each other. It’s going to be a little messy,” Dr. Amy Acton, director of Ohio’s department of health, said at a news conference. “Eighty percent of us will be fine. Everything the rest of us do is to protect the most vulnerable. The other 20 percent of us — we will get to other side of this and we will stick with you every step of the way.”“Asking for grace — we’re all asking for grace with each other. It’s going to be a little messy,” Dr. Amy Acton, director of Ohio’s department of health, said at a news conference. “Eighty percent of us will be fine. Everything the rest of us do is to protect the most vulnerable. The other 20 percent of us — we will get to other side of this and we will stick with you every step of the way.”
I’ll try to remember that.I’ll try to remember that.
Even as focus turns away from our national addiction epidemic, I’ll try to remember, too, what inspires recovering addicts: It is finding that grace with others again. Feeling part of something bigger than themselves — that life is about more than relentlessly buying stuff. With all of that comes renewed energy and optimism, and gratitude to walk again among what they once ignored or abandoned.Even as focus turns away from our national addiction epidemic, I’ll try to remember, too, what inspires recovering addicts: It is finding that grace with others again. Feeling part of something bigger than themselves — that life is about more than relentlessly buying stuff. With all of that comes renewed energy and optimism, and gratitude to walk again among what they once ignored or abandoned.
So perhaps we’ll come out on the other side of this with the insight recovering addicts gain, and glimpse the addict in all of us.So perhaps we’ll come out on the other side of this with the insight recovering addicts gain, and glimpse the addict in all of us.
For the pandemic will make us live for a while with the kind of anguished and deadening isolation they feel. And with that — as addicts find as they leave dope behind — we may rediscover the bounty all around us that we were bequeathed and took for granted.For the pandemic will make us live for a while with the kind of anguished and deadening isolation they feel. And with that — as addicts find as they leave dope behind — we may rediscover the bounty all around us that we were bequeathed and took for granted.
Sam Quinones is a Los Angeles-based freelance journalist and the author of “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic.”Sam Quinones is a Los Angeles-based freelance journalist and the author of “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic.”
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