Editorial: A Drug Epidemic in Black, White and Purple

By Andrea King Collier

Note: This article was originally published on June 2. 

We are all still reeling from the sudden death of music icon Prince on April 21. And once the initial impact of his loss settled in, the inevitable happened. Shade, speculation and revelations of his alleged addiction to opiates and pain medications spread like wildfire.

Today, NBC News reports that Minnesota Medical Examiners confirmed Prince died from an overdose of the powerful painkiller fentanyl.

There is a lot of talk these days about the impact and victims of substance abuse — specifically, pain medications and other opioids, as well as heroin. Today, the conversations are very compassionate and enlightened because the face of addiction is changing.

"We need to see the Prince in all of us. We need to see the vulnerability. We're all vulnerable here," Dr. David Kessler, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, told the L.A. Times. "It's a wake-up call for how we view these drugs." 

Click here for the full article.

Source: NBC News