Presidential candidates gearing up for the primary elections in January seem to be eager to speak out on every topic regardless of how meaningless it seems… except for the very relevant and serious issue of substance abuse and addiction. The only mention of this topic I have seen in regards to the 2008 elections is out of New Hampshire which is historically known as the starting point of the primary race.
This story from the Eagle-Tribune has details on a town meeting that was to be held to discuss the various campaign’s responses on the issue of addiction.
PLAISTOW, N.H. – Tomorrow, local legislators, recovering addicts, activists, and members of the public will join together to discuss the problem of drug abuse at a Presidential Town Hall meeting. But some very important guests will be missing – the 2008 presidential candidates.
Not only did the candidates not attend, but their surrogates only presented canned speeches on predetermined topics! The author of the article, Meghan Carey, quotes Denise Devlin who represents the Friends of Recovery and the New Hampshire Drug and Alcohol Abuse Counselors Association as saying, “For us, just having the forum and having people attend is important.”
Unfortunately I have to agree with Mrs. Devlin’s sentiment. It’s almost as if recovery advocates have to bow and scrape while repeating the mantra “we’re not worthy, we’re not worthy” in order to even get an honorable mention of the issue in which we are so invested.
Substance abuse costs our country thousands of lives and billions of dollars each year yet garners not the personal attention of a single Presidential candidate. I will contact both the reporter of this story and Mrs. Devlin if possible to get the details of what was said at this meeting. In addition, I have made it a personal goal to get at least one candidate to respond to my question in a public forum:
In one month alone more people in the US will die from substance abuse than during the entire war or terror and the economic cost to our nation is approaching half a trillion dollars annually. If elected, what will you do to raise the public’s awareness of the substance abuse problem our nation faces?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
is that our young people are into many types of addictions. They don’t see alcohol as an addiction, yet many drink for the purpose of getting drunk and passing out.
Right now government seems to be more concerned with what fattening foods they are eating!
many states are going so far as requesting medical records and tracking prescriptions (questionable 4th amendment issues which may make me rephrase my question to the candiates) because of addiction and abuse, and kids see these things as safe because a doctor prescribes them instead of a dealer.