Opioid Epidemic: Treatment Not Punishment

Second of three parts. Read part one: A Personal Look at a National Problem.

Opioid addiction takes a personal toll, but it also has countrywide consequences.

On an average day in the U.S., someone begins nonmedical use of opioids every 22 seconds; someone starts using heroin every two and a half minutes; and someone dies from opioid-related overdose every 16 minutes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.