Obama drug strategy focuses on vets, women and college kids?

We need to take this problem seriously because drugs do a lot more damage to more than the person taking the drugs. They destroy families as well as futures. That said, when I read this, I had to laugh. Considering that some drugs are good and others are bad in the eyes of the government, it doesn't make sense to put PTSD veterans on medication then tell them they can't take drugs.

The easy response from too many in mental health is to tell veterans to take pills. The hard work comes in with therapy but there are too few providing the therapy and too many providing the prescriptions. Now they want to curb the use of prescriptions but don't seem as interested in doing something about the need for them.

They are given prescriptions for mental issues to address sleeping problems, waking up, calming down and eating. What did they expect would happen when they told them to take these drugs?

Obama drug strategy focuses on vets, women and college kids
Obama drug strategy focuses on veterans, women, college students.
By Gary Martin
gmartin@express-news.net


WASHINGTON — In promoting a government-wide anti-drug strategy, a White House official said Monday that he is focused on curbing the abuse of prescription pills, particularly among veterans and college students.

Gil Kerlikowske, the administration's National Drug Control Policy director, touted the 2011 National Drug Control Strategy in Ohio, saying the roadmap would require collaboration from a variety of sectors, including law enforcement, recovery communities and parents.

Three at-risk populations — women and their dependent children, college students and veterans — have been identified because of high rates of substance abuse.

Among veterans, about 375,000 Veterans' Administration hospital patients suffered such problems, according to a 2007 study. And recent Justice Department surveys of state and federal prison inmates show that about 60 percent of the 140,000 incarcerated veterans are struggling with substance abuse.


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