America is in the midst of a crisis.

This crisis kills more people than guns or cars, is increasing exponentially and reveals startling insight into how we as a nation address drug abuse. I’m talking about the opioid epidemic.

Last year, approximately 64,000 people were killed by opioids. President Trump declared the epidemic a “public health emergency,” and deaths involving opioids have increased by 540 percent in the last three years alone.

Although we are starting to understand how so many people got hooked, the question remains: What can be done about the worst drug epidemic in American history? And what does that answer reveal about the way we view drug abuse itself?

Although opioid abuse has been around as long as this country, the opioid crisis as we know it today really began back in the 1980s. 

Although any type of drug abuse is a complex problem with no silver bullet solution, the beginnings of the opioid crisis can be clearly traced back to its roots in the ‘80s, when doctors began prescribing opioids to treat pain. According to drugabuse.gov, six to 12 percent of Americans, ages 12-25, abuse prescription medicines today.

What seems to be causing the most disruption, at least on the political plane, is the spread of opioid abuse to a new demographic: older, wealthier, white Americans.

It is this new context of drug addiction that is creating change in the way we treat drug abuse.

For comparison, let’s look at the cocaine epidemic of the 1980s. Addicts were viewed as “junkies” and “crackheads,” and in 1986 the Anti-Drug Abuse Act was passed in Congress, requiring mandatory minimum sentences for people convicted on cocaine charges.

To many people, politicians included, drug addicts were simply criminals to be thrown in jail, rather than treated with empathy and understanding. The cocaine epidemic also had the greatest effect on predominantly African-American communities.

Now let’s look at today’s epidemic, one that affects mostly white communities. Opioid addicts are viewed not as criminals, but as victims.

It’s not very hard to understand where the difference comes from. As evangelical pastor Ed Stetzer writes in a column for the Washington Post, “What I am struck by now is how my perspective has changed … It’s worth noting what crack meant to us. It meant black street crime. Today, what the opioid epidemic means for many of us: Whites need treatment.”

There’s no doubt, this new approach to addiction is more effective and humane than our previous tactics. Addicts need detox clinics, counseling and medical attention, not jail time. 

So, what’s the takeaway from this? What can we learn? First of all, we should treat ALL victims of drug and alcohol addiction with empathy, compassion and humanity. No one wakes up one day and decides they’re going to become a drug addict, and we need to understand those people need our help rather than our hatred.

Second of all, we need to take a good long look at our justice system and the way we view crime in this society. Implicit bias is real, and it is fully integrated into our culture. This is not acceptable. No longer can we tolerate racism in our government, our justice system and our culture.

There is nothing wrong with the fact that we are treating opioid addicts with medical attention and abuse counseling rather than criminal charges. What we need to realize, though, is that the income you make or the color of your skin does not determine who falls victim to addiction; it has an impact on us all.

It’s time we acted accordingly.