It is estimated that 142 people die every day from opioid misuse.  That prompted President Trump to form the Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis and would like a national emergency declared.  Dr. Ally Dering-Anderson is an associate professor with the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Pharmacy and says opioid misuse impacts people from around the country – including the heartland.

Dering-Anderson says declaring a national emergency is a start but won’t solve the problem.

Dering-Anderson believes opioid abuse is more of a problem with people who lost their ability to see a brighter future.  That may be due to poverty, depression or mental illness.