[Trump declares the opioid crisis a public health emergency]Just a few weeks ago, I met some of the people most directly affected by this public health crisis. A lesson from the pastIn the late 1980s, America went through an eerily similar period of drug addiction. In what was and is still referred to by many as the “crack epidemic,” our country witnessed a nearly unprecedented rise in drug addiction, violence and desperation. As crack addiction ravaged many cities and neighborhoods, the overwhelming response from Americans was fear. In the late 1980s, I lived in Buffalo in a neighborhood hit hard by crack addiction.

Source: Washington Post October 27, 2017 00:05 UTC