Many of you do not need to read this column right now. But clip and save it for later, because, according to the hard statistics about addiction, there’s a good chance that someone you know will, at some point, be affected by substance abuse.
- The U.S. experienced a record number of fatal drug overdoses in 2014—nearly 50,000. Opioids, which include both prescription pain relievers and heroin, accounted for 61 percent of cases. The number of overdose-related deaths is now 1.5 times greater than auto fatalities.
- An estimated 1.3 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 experienced a substance-use disorder in 2014, which represents about 1 in 20 of all teens.
- In the 18-to-24 age group, about 7,000 South Carolina adolescents enter addiction-rehabilitation programs each year.
With each report of the growing opioid epidemic on the nightly news, we’re learning that drug addiction isn’t just on the mean streets of far-off cities. It’s also quietly happening in homes that look just like ours. Addiction doesn’t discriminate. It cuts across all demographics: rich, poor, old, young, black, white, rural and urban.
More than 700 South Carolinians died from overdoses in 2014, each one of them a tragic loss to their grieving families. Referring to the increase in opioid and heroin abuse in Charleston County since 2014, coroner Rae Wooten says, “It’s our young athlete, it’s our housewife, it’s our businessman, it’s our father of three.”
These days, so many neighborhoods and towns have retreated into more solitary patterns of living. We see fewer kids on their bikes up and down the street, fewer folks on front porches at the golden hour at dusk, and more people keeping company with the bluish glow of the latest iPhone. This kind of living is not only less sociable, it also breeds the kind of loneliness and isolation that can contribute to drug dependence.
The antidote to drug addiction is community. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, one of the key components to support a life in recovery is having relationships and social networks that provide friendship and hope.
The College of Charleston understands the importance of connection in breaking addiction and, in 2016, created the state’s first collegiate recovery program (CRP). This program provides a structured, healthy community where students recovering from addiction can grow and succeed together in an alcohol- and drug-free environment. At a stage of life when many students are removed from their home support networks, it provides a safe place of refuge and connection. Students involved in CRPs tend to have higher grade-point averages and higher graduation rates than their peers. More important, relapse rates are only about 8 percent. It’s easy to see why more than 130 universities across the country have similar programs. To learn more about the College of Charleston CRP, contact W. Wood Marchant III at (843) 953‑6630 or marchantww@cofc.edu.
Epidemics don’t come with easy solutions, but while task forces and coalitions work to address this crisis on a national scale, members of local communities can draw closer together, making it harder for individuals to fall through the cracks. Shoo the kids to play outside where they can ride bikes and build forts, developing the skills and resilience that come from skinned knees and working together. The adults can chat on their porches and check in on Mrs. So-and-So down the street after that hard fall she took last week.
Connections provide accountability and support the kind of relationships that are key to long-term independence from substance abuse. They also create happier communities we can proudly call home.
Thanks to all of you who have reached out to share your stories about local solutions to our state’s biggest problems. Please continue to write me at connections@ecsc.org, or Connections, 808 Knox Abbott Drive, Cayce, SC 29033, and turn to this page in future issues as we celebrate the power of community connections.
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Get help
For anyone struggling with addiction, the S.C. Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS) can help. The agency coordinates local substance abuse agencies that provide prevention, treatment and recovery services. Call (803) 896-5555 or visit daodas.sc.gov.
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Write Us
Are you part of a community initiative? Share your story with the readers of South Carolina Living. Write to:
Connections
The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina
808 Knox Abbott Drive Cayce, SC 29033
Email: connections@ecsc.org
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