While I want to maintain the apolitical nature of the forum here, I would like to remind everyone that the 2008 elections will be here before we know it. I submitted the following question via e-mail to the candidates in tonight’s debate apparently to no avail, but this will not stop me from trying to get it discussed in upcoming debates or at town hall meetings.
The President has declared September as National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Although this event has received little fanfare, it probably would if most people were aware that the yearly $400 billion economic cost of substance abuse is exponentially greater than the cost of the war in Iraq. The nation has been polarized by the US military deaths that number less than one thousand per year, but doesn’t blink at the tens of thousands of deaths every year caused by substance abuse.
The theme of this year’s recovery month is “Saving Lives, Saving Dollars”, if elected President how would you try to save lives and save dollars when it comes to substance abuse?
Unless its recovery related let’s stay away from politics here, but if you have the chance please push these types of questions in front of not only your candidate, but any candidate for office. This topic is rarely brought up in the public forum and it will stay that way unless we do something about it. I am also sending out letters to my Senators and Congressman and I am pursuing my birthday resolution to speak on a local radio station… it may not be much but I am doing my part for Recovery Month 2007.
