Recent drug deaths, especially in the City of Portland, have received media attention and led many to the conclusion that these deaths from substance abuse are a relatively recent problem cropping up only within the past five or so years.

While the demand and misuse of oxycontin, for example, has been fairly recent, the problem of substance abuse and addiction, which includes alcohol, is not. The misuse of prescribed drugs and over-the-counter drugs by overdosing and or mixing them with alcohol has been more than just a relatively recent substance abuse problem.

Former first lady Betty Ford, in the 1970s, revealed she had a drug alcohol problem from mixing prescribed drugs with alcohol. Her courageous public announcement of her addiction proved that substance addiction can and does affect people from all walks of life — even first ladies.

Alcohol alone is responsible for approximately 250,000 deaths in the United States each year. Over 1,000 alcoholics die in the United States each year as a direct diagnosis of alcoholism. If alcoholism were a municipality in Maine, it would be by far the most populated. This didn’t just happen overnight or within the last decade or two.

I am hopeful that all substance abuse and addiction will be recognized as a major health and human concern that needs our immediate attention and action.

Ernie Hunt, Minot

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