U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tasked With Tackling Rural Drug Problem [TPR.org]

Well said Jane.  Thank you.

Dimitrius, I share your frustration. How the nation handled the crack cocaine epidemic was, to say the very least, not only not trauma-informed, but added to those people's trauma, and created trauma for their families and communities.

The good news is that things are changing, and there are many people -- including many in this ACEsConnection community -- who are making sure that the programs that are being implemented actually help people, their families and communities, and that these programs stop traumatizing already traumatized people and communities.

There's another element of this to take into consideration....the methamphetamine epidemic, which was also handled in a way that was not informed by our new understanding of human development, was addressed also by punitive measures, which made it much more difficult for people to obtain the drug. But it was just another round of  Whac-a-Mole....instead of addressing the reasons why people look for relief from the ACEs they've experienced or are experiencing, the traditional way of handling it is to go after the drug. And once people who are hurting don't have access to one drug, they'll move to another that's cheaper and/or more available.

First, I am happy to hear USDA and the U.S. Agriculture Secretary is looking to tackle this issue.  However, it is deeply disturbing and sickening to me that this nation has compassion for heroin and opioid users (who are predominantly white) but looks at crack cocaine users (who are predominantly people of color) with no compassion whatsoever and seeks harsh penalties for use of the latter drug.