Letter: Seeing real benefits from drug recovery

The 2022 National Recovery Month theme is “Recovery is for Everyone: Every Person, Every Family, Every Community.” This year’s theme reminds us that while the path toward recovery can be different, recovery is available to everyone.

While we celebrate the stories of those now free of addiction, it is important to note that in our world, we never do our work alone. We must thank community-based substance use treatment programs, drug courts, support groups, public health, and loved ones, for it is with their help that thousands of people find the road to recovery each year.

Treatment for addiction is as successful as treatment for other chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and asthma, yet it is still complex. Drug and alcohol addiction is a chronic relapsing brain disease. Treatment helps return the individual to productive functioning in the family, workplace and community, and it saves lives. The benefits of treatment accrue to individuals and their friends and families, but to society as well.

According to the CDC, Ohio’s drug overdose rate was fourth-highest in the nation, and more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S., more than any other year on record, per National Center for Health Statistics.

Research shows that, a year after treatment, drug use was reduced by 50%, criminal activity dropped by 80%, employment increased and homelessness and dependence on public assistance decreased.

During National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, let us take a moment to remember that treatment is effective and that lives can change because of it.

Tia Marcel Moretti

Lima

Moretti, a licensed social worker and Ohio certified prevention specialist, is president of Lighthouse Behavioral Health Solution.

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