Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

Addiction is an issue that seems to dominate the news, primarily with the opioid crisis.  There were 1565 heroin overdose deaths in Kentucky in 2017. This is tragic. So how do you define addiction? It's something that controls one's life and negatively impacts work and other relationships. An addiction is something that controls you instead of you controlling it. But there are other forms of addiction: Smoking, alcohol, food, pornography, sex, gambling, you name it.  So why are we so prone to addiction? Perhaps it's because we long for something deeper and seek other means to meet that deeper need. Augustine said we have deep spiritual needs that can only be met by God when he said “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.”