Nationwide, federal and local officials are reporting alarming spikes in drug overdoses — a hidden epidemic within the coronavirus pandemic. Making matters worse, many treatment centers, drug courts and recovery programs have been forced to close or significantly scale back during shutdowns. ADWhat’s needed, advocates say, is emergency funding to keep afloat treatment programs, recovery centers and needle-exchange programs. It took huge effort — and the help of family members, co-workers and two treatment programs — for him to turn his life around. “We have to reopen — for our health,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar wrote recently in a Post op-ed.

Source: Washington Post July 01, 2020 13:02 UTC