Russell Brand rips on the opiod crisis in America (but he’s British). More Americans are dying from opioid overdose than have died from gun deaths, car crashes and HIV/AIDS. As we showed in “Deaths of Despair”, while mortality from disease has gone down in all age groups, deaths from alcoholism, addiction and suicide have gone back up for older adults, but it’s particularly high for working class whites aged 45-54. While drug deaths are going up in all age groups, the greatest increase in drug overdose and suicide deaths is in older adults aged 45 to 64. That’s why my primary service work as a Buddhist is to people who struggle with addiction and mental illness, people like me. Russell looks at the cultural causes of opioid addiction and asks: why are people in so much pain?

]]>