Is It Too Soon To Start Talking about a Cure for Addiction?
Our country remains in the grips of an opioid crisis claiming more than 100,000 lives every year. Rising mortality associated with drug addiction and excessive drinking is among the major factors contributing to declining life expectancy. And sadly, the treatments that exist—including medications, in the case of opioid- and alcohol-use disorders—help only a fraction of those who could benefit from them.
The need for new treatments is real and urgent. One aspect of hope amid the tragedy is that the crisis has spurred unprecedented resources and human ingenuity toward finding novel scientific solutions that may one day make addiction a thing of the past.