Jeremy Galloway, The Influence

Drug use has been a part of human experience for thousands of years, across every known culture. But for many of us, it’s still surprising to learn that only a small fraction of people who use even “hard” drugs like heroin or methamphetamine—according to US government data, for example, or the United Nations—become addicted.

The recent spike in the use of heroin and other opioids, sparking frightening headlines about addiction and overdose, has left families struggling to find solutions. When my family discovered I was using heroin over a decade ago, when I was in my mid-20s, they spent years trying to help, but didn’t know where to begin. Together, we learned the hard way that many potential “fixes” end up being dead ends. Some might cause even more harm.

The overdose crisis has touched almost every corner of the United States. According to the CDC over 47,000 people died from overdoses in 2014, most from opioids like heroin, hydrocodone, OxyContin, morphine and fentanyl.