Addiction Policy Forum Announces Plan to Address Substance Use Disorders
Eight Strategic Focus Areas Are Critical to Ensuring Long-Term Progress
144 Americans Die Each Day from a Drug Overdose
Today, the Addiction Policy Forum announced its 2018 - 2021 plan for addressing addiction in America. The national plan was developed by experts in the field of addiction in close collaboration with families who have lost loved ones. It outlines eight strategic priorities that include practical tools, sound policies, and new collaborations that will empower and equip communities to better treat and prevent addiction and ultimately save lives. Currently, 144 Americans die from a drug overdose every day, including 91 from opioids.
Research shows that addiction is a preventable and treatable medical issue. However, it is often not recognized or addressed like other diseases due to the stigma associated with substance use. The Addiction Policy Forum’s framework is a comprehensive approach to ending the crisis. It encompasses the full spectrum of solutions required to fight addiction – from education and prevention to medical innovation and criminal justice reform.
The Addiction Policy Forum’s eight strategic priorities include:
- Help Families in Crisis: Provide new, effective resources and support for patients and families in crisis.
- Expand Treatment Access and Integration into Healthcare: Through partnerships and research, develop resources, protocols and tools for physicians, healthcare systems and the workforce to integrate treatment of substance use disorders into healthcare.
- Drive Discovery: Invest in research on how to treat, prevent and cure addiction and its related disorders.
- Expand Recovery Support: Properly prioritize and secure resources for the recovery support programs that individuals need in their communities.
- Prevention: Increase funding for and the number of prevention programs nationwide.
- Protect Children Impacted by Parental Substance Use Disorder: Expand resources to support children who have a family member with a substance use disorder.
- Reframe the Criminal Justice System: Partner with key stakeholders to re-envision how the criminal justice system responds to addiction.
- Advocate and Educate: Intensify the urgency around addiction and mobilize bold action through advocacy and engagement.
“More than 21 million individuals are suffering from addiction – we are losing a generation of Americans to this epidemic. It’s unacceptable and our country needs action,” said Jessica Hulsey Nickel, president and chief executive officer of the Addiction Policy Forum. “Defeating this national crisis requires a new way of thinking. This comprehensive approach must serve as a clear pathway and call to action for policymakers, industry partners, healthcare stakeholders and community leaders. Together we can solve this.”
The Addiction Policy Forum’s approach outlines key strategies and specific outcomes that are critical to delivering on each of the eight priorities. For example, in order to help families in crisis, the plan proposes the establishment of a national crisis hotline to connect patients and families to available treatment, recovery and prevention services in their community. It also recognizes the critical importance of advocating for increased federal funding for research on substance use disorders and recovery support programs.
“We have a unique and timely opportunity to turn the tide against substance use disorders that will have implications for our children and grandchildren,” said Gen. Barry McCaffrey, Advisory Board Chair for the Addiction Policy Forum and former Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. “Strategic, comprehensive and inclusive approaches end epidemics, and that’s exactly what this plan will accomplish.”
“When our daughter was struggling with addiction, we felt helpless and ultimately hopeless, and we didn’t know where to turn for support or information,” said Doug Griffin of Newton, New Hampshire, who lost his daughter, Courtney, in 2014. “It’s heartbreaking that families are experiencing the same pain and devastation. The plan announced today is an important and necessary step toward helping everyone in the U.S. touched by the addiction epidemic.”
A copy of the Forum’s 2018 - 2021 plan can be found here.
The Addiction Policy Forum
The Addiction Policy Forum is a 501(c)3 established in 2015 as a diverse partnership of organizations, policymakers, and stakeholders committed to working together to elevate awareness around addiction, and to improve programs and policy through a comprehensive response that includes prevention, treatment, recovery, and criminal justice reform. Jessica Hulsey Nickel, whose own family was devastated by addiction, is the founder of a coalition of 1,700 families impacted by substance use disorders and is available for further explanation and interviews by media.
For more information, visit www.addictionpolicy.org and follow us on www.twitter.com/AddictionPolicy.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171025005955/en/
Addiction Policy Forum
Jay Ruais, 603-475-0332
jruais@addictionpolicy.org
