95.3 / 88.5 FM Grand Rapids and 95.3 FM Muskegon
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

A conversation with Sanford House President Rae Green about addiction

Personal finance website WalletHub, has released its report on which states have the biggest drug problems, and bad news for Michigan: the report found that the Mitten State has the second-highest level of drug abuse in the nation, as only the District of Columbia fared worse.

Contributing to the problem is Michigan’s rapidly growing opioid epidemic. Just how bad is it? Well, according to data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, overdose deaths in Michigan have nearly tripled over the last 5 years. And consider this: more people died of an overdose in 2017 than the number of traffic accident related deaths and gun related deaths combined.

Rae Green is the founder and President of Sanford House Addiction Treatment Centers. Working on the front lines of drug abuse, she says, the epidemic is absolutely growing, but another problem often gets overlooked, and that is West Michigan’s propensity to abuse alcohol.

I recently spoke with Green about the study, as she breaks down what life on the front lines of drug abuse in West Michigan looks like.