SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – August 30, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is taking a hard look at drug addiction and recovery among the ranks of its faithful.
In a statement posted on ldsnewsroom.org, the Church announced the upcoming release of a new video series chronicling the lives of twelve different addicts and the struggles they faced on a day-to-day basis.
The soon-to-be-released, twelve-part series, 12 Steps to Change, is billed as a gritty and compelling look at the horrors of addiction, as seen through the eyes of 12 different addicts.
Todd Daley, director of the Mormon Channel, worked closely with the LDS Church’s Welfare and Social Services departments in producing the videos. He says the goal of the productions was to not only focus attention on the addiction crisis, but to also highlight paths to recovery offered through LDS Church teachings.
“We realized we needed programming that provided help to people dealing with the very real problems of life,” Daley said. “We hope that people will feel open to watching the videos and then understand, talk and act — discovering that help is available.”
Help, in whatever form it comes, is desperately needed, especially in Utah, where a recent state health department study ranked the Beehive State eighth in the nation in prescription overdose deaths, up 400 percent over the last ten years.
That averages out to 21 prescription drug fatalities in the state per month and it’s a trend that’s not exactly new.
Back in 2007, 546 Utahns died due to opioid and other drug overdoses. That’s more than the number of Utahns who died that year due to vehicle-accidents (320) and firearms (253) combined.
And while deaths due to overdose in some classifications, such as methadone use, are decreasing, fatalities due to prescription drugs, like oxycodone and fentanyl, continue to spike. The death rates for the use of both drugs have jumped dramatically in the last few years – up more than 20 percent per 100,000 fentanyl prescriptions, and nearly nine percent per 100,000 oxycodone prescriptions, since the late 2000s.
In the recent past, the LDS Church addressed the addiction issue by way of a workbook, “A Guide to Addiction Recovery and Healing.” The 2008 publication was designed for use in Church sponsored recovery groups by intertwining LDS religious doctrine with the tenants of the world famous 12 step recovery program created by Alcoholics Anonymous.
According to the Church, the workbook is now published in 22 countries.
In addition to the workbook and the new 12 Steps To Change videos, there are other LDS forums for coping with drug and alcohol addiction, including a variety of Facebook sites.
12 Steps To Change runs on the Mormon Channel, September 1 through September 12, in conjunction with National Addiction Recovery Month.
“Back in 2007, 546 Utahns died due to opioid and other drug overdoses. That’s more than the number of Utahns who died that year due to vehicle-accidents (320) and firearms (253) combined.” What? 546 is less than 573. I don’t doubt the fact, but these numbers are wrong.