making positive change.

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In 2016, approximately 11,824,000 Americans reported misusing or abusing an opioid. This number makes up about 1/4 of all people who reported misusing either a prescribed or illicit drug.

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addiction is a public health crisis. suffering from a disease should not be a criminal offense.

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My beautiful sister wanted to star in Broadway musicals. Now I'm grieving her death and hoping others don't also die of opioid addiction

By the time my sister Madelyn Ellen Linsenmeir tried OxyContin in 2004, it was one of the most commonly abused prescription opioids in the US. She died last month, and while I may not be able to keep track of the days or hours right now, I know it is time to hold accountable the politicians who have stood by and allowed this crisis to take place.

Research shows that medication-assisted treatment, a combination of therapy and medication such as buprenorphine or methadone, is the most effective intervention for opioid addiction, and that these medications reduce mortality by half or more. Yet Maddie, like most prisoners, never received treatment while incarcerated -- fewer than 1% of jails and prisons in the US administer FDA-approved addiction medications like methadone or buprenorphine.

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Social Stigma Is One Reason The Opioid Crisis Is Hard To Confront

The CDC estimated that 72,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2017. There are many reasons why the opioid crisis is so hard to confront. One of them is social stigma.

Researchers say one reason there is so much stigma around drug use is that many people view addiction as a moral weakness. Leo Beletsky, a public health researcher from Northeastern University, says stigma enters the political discourse "around personal responsibility versus coddling and enabling."

He says the argument over whether drug users should simply "just say no" distracts us from what needs to be the top priority: saving lives.

"Look, if you want the person to take personal responsibility, you have to give them the tools to do that. And unless you revive the person who is dying, they are not going to take personal responsibility for anything."

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addiction is not a moral failure or a choice. addiction is a disease and a mental health issue, and we owe it to those struggling to treat is as such.