I hope you never have someone close to you battle addiction.
Its not as simple as you've summed it up to be. This may vary by region, but here in upstate NY, the opioid crisis is an epidemic. Way more people seeking treatment than there are treatment options available. My cousin was a heroin addict, and my best friend is a drug counselor at a rehab facility. My friend provided lists of inpatient treatment centers and tried pulling strings herself, but to no avail. My cousin sat on the phone and called every one of them and there were no beds to be found anywhere. Waiting lists were in place at most of them. After three weeks of trying, she finally found a place that would take her that was over two hours from home, but she had to be there within an hour or they'd give the bed away. She tried to arrange medical transportation there, and it wasn't available until the next day. The bed was gone by then. Here was a girl who desperately wanted inpatient treatment, but the help was NOT there. Anyone who thinks treatment options are as easy as making an appointment and driving the addict there has never been in the thick of it. There really needs to be more options available, but the epidemic has grown at a rate that the country cannot keep up with.
