In 2021, there was an estimated 107,000 drug overdose deaths according to the federal government’s statistics. Most of the overdose deaths were opiate related. Ocean County, N.J. has had a large number of drug overdoses and opiate related deaths. Why is this happening? Many people think we need more treatment centers. Unfortunately, most treatment center protocols reflect established norms for treating substance abuse problems. How has this worked so far? Many people think 12 - Step programs are the answer. There is a plethora of 12-Step meetings in the Ocean County area at all times of the day, every day, and the opiate related calamities continue to mount. I have studied the consequences of addiction extensively for 10 years and I have found that the main underlying cause is not what people would think it is. The large number of overdoses is a symptom of a much larger problem. The primary underlying cause of the overdoses is a morally decaying society. One of the ancillary effects of this antecedent cause is a collective form of self – loathing that is expressed by a lack of personal intrinsic value in each individual. As a result, people rely on objects outside of themselves for comfort and self - reassurance. People become attached to artificial environments and repetitive experiences. As our society degrades further into nihilism, increasing numbers of people will seek the need for gratification more and more until the need for gratification exceeds almost all other values. In a society where people have subjective morals, the decline into a nihilistic morass is eventually inevitable. Moral relativism (subjective morality) is ubiquitous in America; when the behaviors in a populace are inversely proportional to an objective standard of morality (do not initiate harm), the probability that large numbers of people will suffer both physically and emotionally is very high. Morally relative thoughts create cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance (contrasting thoughts) is a tension state. Consequentially, people seek comfort in addictions to alleviate tension. In short, in America, pathological addiction is not an abnormality, it is the norm. Many people want change as long as they do not have to change themselves. This applies to all members of our society, not just the drug users. In the last 10 years, I have noticed a steady increase of draconian measures being enacted that are infringing on key areas of human freedom notwithstanding some recent reversals of tyranny. The number of freedoms lost is not the most critical factor; the type of freedoms lost is more significant. Many of these freedoms that Americans are losing are in crucial areas such as: bodily sovereignty and privacy. The decriminalization and growing acceptance of cannabis nationally is promising. However, the enforcement of drug rules called laws that forbid personal use and distribution have not prevented increases in overdose deaths. Many Americans accept the “my body my choice” defense for women deciding whether to terminate a pregnancy or not. Paradoxically, these same people do not accept this argument for women when the behavior is ingesting or possessing illegally obtained opiates. Recently, about a year ago, “my body my choice” did not apply to the many women who were fired from employment as nurses for refusing to ingest a vaccine and/or consent to other invasive mandates. Sadly, bodily sovereignty loses importance in the midst of subjective principles. If a person does not feel that they own their body, which is their property insomuch as the closest thing to themselves besides their mind, that person has nothing. I can support all of the assertions in this article with evidence. Let’s work together to stop this pandemic.

 Article date: 9/7/22.