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23 DePaul J. Health Care L. [1] (2022)

handle is hein.journals/dephcl23 and id is 1 raw text is: The Opioid Crisis: The Battle for Overdose Prevention Sites in Illinois
Haley Arnieri
I.   Introduction
After sixteen years of sobriety, actor Dax Shepard relapsed with prescription painkillers.1
The Parenthood star had been taking prescribed Vicodin since 2012, with the knowledge of
family and sponsors, to deal with pain issues from a motorcycle accident.2 The prescribed drug
use only recently became a problem in 2020 due to additional injuries to his hand and shoulder.3
Until this point, Shepard had never bought non-prescribed opioids, but when his prescription
drugs were insufficient to fill his cravings, he started purchasing pills for the first time.4 Shepard
knew he had an opioid problem when he began lying to everyone around him. Eventually, he
overcame his opioid dependence and feelings of fear and embarrassment with the help of his
loved ones.5 While Shepard is one of the lucky ones who was able to fight his opioid addiction,
many others are not so fortunate.
Since 1999, more than 841,000 people have died in the United States from a drug
overdose.6 In 2018, two out of three drug overdose deaths were from opioids.7 Like the rest of
the country, Illinois was not able to escape this public health crisis. Recently, COVID-19 has
exacerbated this fatal epidemic.8 By July 2020, the number of people who died in Cook County
1 Karu F. Daniels, After 16 years of sobriety, Dax Shepard reveals relapse, opens up about his recent battle with
opioid addiction, CHI. TRIB. (Sept. 25, 2020, 12:56 PM), https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ny-dax-
shephard-relap se-vicodin-addiction-armchair-expert-podcas t-20200925 -dafdqyhkurddxj ovtne551zzrg-s tory. html.
2 Dax Shepard Opens Up About Addiction, DECISION POINT CTR. (Oct. 1, 2020),
https://www.decisionpointcenter.com/blog/2020/october/dax-shepard-opens-up-about-addiction/.
3 Daniels, supra note 1.
4 DECISION POINT CTR., supra note 2.
5 Id.
6 The Drug Overdose Epidemic: Behind the Numbers, CTR. FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION,
https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/index.html (last updated Mar. 25, 2021).
?Id.
8 Melissa Sanchez & Duaa Eldeib, Overdose Deaths Have Skyrocketed in Chicago, and the Coronavirus Pandemic
May Be Making It Worse, PROPUBLICA (May 30, 2020, 5:00 AM), https://www.propublica.org/article/overdose-
deaths-have-skyrocketed-in-chicago-and-the-coronavirus-pandemic-may-be-making-it-worse.

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