By Travis Loller
Associated Press
PBS
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a personal story of his own heroin addiction, spiritual awakening and recovery at a conference on drug addiction Thursday and emphasized that young people need a sense of purpose in their lives to prevent them from turning to drugs.
Kennedy called addiction “a source of misery, but also a symptom of misery.” In a speech that mentioned God more than 20 times, he pointed to his own experience feeling as though he had been born with a hole inside of himself that he needed to fill.
“Every addict feels that way in one way or another — that they have to fix what’s wrong with them, and the only thing that works are drugs. And so threats that you might die, that you’re going to ruin your life are completely meaningless,” he said.
Speaking to about 3,000 people at the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit in Nashville, Tennessee, Kennedy did not address recent budget and personnel cuts or agency reorganizations that many experts believe could jeopardize public health, including recent progress on overdose deaths.
Kennedy drew cheers when he said that we need to do “practical things” to help people with addictions, like providing them with Suboxone and methadone. He also said there should be rehabilitation facilities available for anyone who is ready to seek help. But he focused on the idea of prevention, signaling his view of addiction as a problem fueled by deteriorating family, community and spiritual life.
“We have this whole generation of kids who’ve lost hope in their future,” he said. “They’ve lost their ties to the community.”
Kennedy said policy changes could help reestablish both of those things. Though Kennedy offered few concrete ideas, he recommended educating parents on the value of having meals without cellphones and providing opportunities for service for their children.
The best way to overcome depression and hopelessness, he said, is to wake up each morning and pray “please make me useful to another human being today. ”
He suggested that cellphones are a pernicious influence on young people and that banning them in schools could help decrease drug addiction. He cited a recent visit to a Virginia school that had banned cellphones, saying that grades were up, violence was down and kids were talking to one another in the cafeteria.
Kennedy told attendees that he was addicted to heroin for 14 years, beginning when he was a teenager. During those years, he was constantly making promises to quit, both to himself and to his family.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a personal story of his own heroin addiction, spiritual awakening and recovery at a conference on drug addiction Thursday and emphasized that young people need a sense of purpose in their lives to prevent them from turning to drugs.
Kennedy called addiction “a source of misery, but also a symptom of misery.” In a speech that mentioned God more than 20 times, he pointed to his own experience feeling as though he had been born with a hole inside of himself that he needed to fill.
“Every addict feels that way in one way or another — that they have to fix what’s wrong with them, and the only thing that works are drugs. And so threats that you might die, that you’re going to ruin your life are completely meaningless,” he said.
Speaking to about 3,000 people at the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit in Nashville, Tennessee, Kennedy did not address recent budget and personnel cuts or agency reorganizations that many experts believe could jeopardize public health, including recent progress on overdose deaths.
Kennedy drew cheers when he said that we need to do “practical things” to help people with addictions, like providing them with Suboxone and methadone. He also said there should be rehabilitation facilities available for anyone who is ready to seek help. But he focused on the idea of prevention, signaling his view of addiction as a problem fueled by deteriorating family, community and spiritual life.
“We have this whole generation of kids who’ve lost hope in their future,” he said. “They’ve lost their ties to the community.”
Kennedy said policy changes could help reestablish both of those things. Though Kennedy offered few concrete ideas, he recommended educating parents on the value of having meals without cellphones and providing opportunities for service for their children.
The best way to overcome depression and hopelessness, he said, is to wake up each morning and pray “please make me useful to another human being today. ”
He suggested that cellphones are a pernicious influence on young people and that banning them in schools could help decrease drug addiction. He cited a recent visit to a Virginia school that had banned cellphones, saying that grades were up, violence was down and kids were talking to one another in the cafeteria.
Kennedy told attendees that he was addicted to heroin for 14 years, beginning when he was a teenager. During those years, he was constantly making promises to quit, both to himself and to his family.
To read the whole story, click on link: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/recounting-heroin-addiction-and-spiritual-awakening-rfk-jr-urges-focus-on-prevention-and-community
7 comments:
Remember "it's what we voted for." 😂
Stick to local politics, there’s so much crocked crap going on you need to inform your community instead of bitching on a national level.
9:52 AM
Shut up! Get with the program or start your own blog. Boboso
The Trump Administration is doing a fantastic job. Actually more than I voted for!
That’s called deflecting, they want to stay away from local politics. It’s ripe and delicious for the taking. 🤣🙃😘. Eddie the biggest snake, Joey and crew… 🍿🥤…. Who you gonna call BETA-Beto.the she-male. 😂🤪😂. You only have yourselves to blame you fucking losers. Your despicable behavior and the public is turning on you assholes.
Republican counties, no need to monitor them. They do the right thing for the country.
There always needs to be a shake up before the beginning of any change. Radical left doesn’t want change because of fear a positive development may arise.
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