Editor’s note: If you or a loved one is struggling with mental health or substance use disorders, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s national helpline at 1-800-662-4357 or visit SAMHSA website for treatment information and referrals.
(CNN) — Whatever one thinks of Hunter Biden’s criminal case, the start of the federal gun trial involving President Joe Biden’s son this week in Delaware laid bare a sobering aspect of American life that transcends partisan politics: a nation fighting addiction.
The trial comes as federal, state and local authorities battle an epidemic of drug overdoses across the country in both red and blue states, including those involving the powerful opioid fentanyl.
Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to charges of illegally purchasing and possessing a firearm while using or addicted to drugs, a violation of federal law.
After potential jurors were sworn in Monday at the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, the judge overseeing the case read aloud a list of questions that would be used to select the group of residents who would rule on the case. against Hunter Biden.
“Have you, a family member or a close friend ever suffered from drug or alcohol abuse, or been addicted to drugs or alcohol in any way?” the judge asked.
Another question asked whether potential jurors or those close to them had ever sought treatment for drug abuse.
In their sometimes emotional responses, potential jurors described how drug use had affected people they knew.
Hunter Biden leaves federal court on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo: Matt Slocum/AP).
One potential juror described his daughter’s struggle with addiction, noting that after recovery “everyone needs a second chance.”
Another potential juror said his childhood best friend had died of a heroin overdose.
“I’ve lost a lot of friends to drug overdoses,” said another potential juror. “I think it’s an everyday thing nowadays.”
Recent data underscores a troubling national drug overdose picture.
About 42% of U.S. adults say they personally know at least one person who died of a drug overdose, according to the results of a survey released earlier this year by the nonprofit research institute RAND Corporation.
The report found that among adults who reported knowing someone who died of an overdose, the average number of lives lost they knew of was two, illustrating the “far-reaching consequences” of the country’s overdose crisis.
“That number doesn’t even take into account the number of people who struggled with drugs or alcohol and didn’t overdose,” says Dr. Scott Hadland, an addiction expert at Mass General Children’s Hospital in Boston.
In addition to highlighting the enormous number of Americans affected by addiction, the Hunter Biden trial is also raising critical awareness around the very language used to describe drug use.
Medical experts and victims’ advocates have called for stopping the use of words like “addict” and opting for less judgmental labels like “people suffering from addiction.”
“Addiction is a disease,” according to the Partnership to End Addiction. “It’s important that we use language that frames it as a health issue and shows respect to people with addiction and their families. Just as we would do with any other illness.”
“Words like ‘addict’ are harmful because they contribute to stigma,” Hadland said. “Stigma makes it difficult for people to seek help, including turning to family and friends for support.” “In the midst of a national overdose crisis, we want to make sure people who need help feel comfortable seeking it.”
Addiction experts also warn against widespread drug use, noting that the problem affects people from different communities, political parties and socioeconomic status.
“The reasons people develop a substance use disorder are as varied as there are human beings on this planet,” says Dr. Andy Mendenhall of the Oregon-based treatment and support organization Central City Concern. “What we can say unequivocally is that multigenerational poverty, mental illness, depression, anxiety, job loss [y] “Traumas are part of the narrative of why people seek to feel different through substance use.”
Even those responsible for enforcing the law and apprehending criminal drug users and traffickers say nuance is critical to helping guide people toward treatment as authorities work to solve America’s drug crisis.
“This addictive behavior is not something to be taken lightly and it’s not something like, ‘Oh, just get a job,’ or ‘Just get help,'” Portland Police Chief Bob Day previously told CNN. “There are demons there that I could never understand. I want to leave behind some of the politics and get past some of the certainty about who is right and who is wrong and really recognize that lives are at stake here.”
CNN’s Deidre McPhillips, Marshall Cohen and Jacqueline Howard contributed to this report.
