262,000,000 Americans Struggling with Addiction
The recent elections in this land focused on what politicians considered the worst problems in American. Their agenda was to say that they were the most qualified to deal with whatever problem they considered the most threatening. However, is it possible that all of them failed to see America’s greatest problem might be the problem of addiction?
What is the biggest addiction facing America? Who can help?
Think for a moment of the problem of alcohol addiction. It is estimated that there may be more than 16,000,000 Americans addicted to alcohol. It is not just a problem for the individual who is drinking, but his drinking affects those around him. Alcohol is a factor in 73% of all felonies, 73% of child beating cases, 41% of rapes, 81% of wife batterings, 72% of stabbings and 83% of homicides. One study showed that 50,000,000 Americans are impacted by the drinking of others.
Add to this that ever-increasing problem of drug addiction. The best estimates show that there are at least 7,000,000 drug addicts in our land and over 20,000,000 drug users. The World Health Organization report shows that Americans use more cocaine and marijuana than any nation on the earth. At least 16% of Americans will use cocaine in their lives as compared with the second leading nation, New Zealand, where 4% will use cocaine. This addiction to drugs is the underlying reason for so many crimes like thefts and robberies.
Look at the title of this article. The combined number of drug and alcohol addicts in this land is only slightly over 10% of the number of people in our land. Yet, the title shows that almost ninety percent are struggling with the problem of addiction. How are there 262,000,000 of the 325,000,000 Americans struggling? How can this be? What can this addiction possibly be?
Those who are mentally challenged and many young children are not part of this addiction. Remove them from the total population and that leaves 262 million who struggle with addiction. What is this addiction? It is the addiction to sin.
Read these verses carefully. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved” (Rom. 3:23; 2 Pet. 2:19—New American Standard Version). Consider the power of sin. It holds the world in its grasp and only by the knowledge of the Lord can we escape it (2 Pet. 2:20). Sin reigns over us and has become our master (Rom. 6:12, 14). The very parts of our bodies become the instruments in this bondage (Rom. 6:13).
Wake up, America! We have an addiction problem that is far greater than the addiction of drugs and alcohol—sin. There is freedom in Christ for you, for me and for every addict!