Ingrid Peschke (Photo courtesy of Ingrid Peschke)

Have you noticed that there have been quite a few news stories in the local media lately about drug addiction?

For example, a search for articles using the word “heroin” in The Oakland Press in the past 90 days yields 21 results, including an article in April entitled, Heroin use, deaths are on the rise in Michigan.

The Oakland Press reports that Michigan ranks 7th in most heroin deaths by state for the period from 1999 to 2010, at over 1,500.

Health Writer Ingrid Peschke in Massachusetts tackles this difficult subject in a recent MetroWest Daily News article, identifying ways a focus on spirituality can help. She quotes Charles Faupel, a professor emeritus at Auburn University in Alabama and coauthor of “The Sociology of American Drug Use,” who told The Christian Science Monitor that he feels part of the solution begins with “more spiritual grounding among young people.” She discusses the need to go from “E” for empty to “F” for fulfilled and that “lasting fulfillment begins with glimpsing something of our spiritual nature.”

Peschke’s MetroWest Daily News article is definitely recommended reading:
A Spiritual Antidote for Addiction to Prescription Painkillers and Heroin.