This election season, American voters have heard a lot about addiction. Unlike in times past, however, they are hearing from not only tales in tabloid newspapers or advice from health care providers but from Republican presidential candidates. In the midst of a national opioid and overdose epidemic, former and current candidates Governor Chris Christie, Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, and Carly Fiorina have all spoken publicly about losing friends, classmates, and family members to addiction.
The ubiquity of addiction throughout the GOP campaigns speaks to the sheer size of the problem: an estimated 21.5 million people aged 12 or older had a substance use disorder in 2014. The number of unintentional overdose deaths from prescription pain relievers has more than quadrupled since 1999; in many states, there are more people dying from overdoses than from motor vehicle accidents, suicide, or homicide.
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