In this Atlanta Jewish Times article, Leslie Lubell talks about how addiction affects the family:
"Drug and alcohol addiction is an issue that affects many families, but often remains unspoken. As the conversation around addiction has opened up in recent years, programs like HAMSA have emerged in the Jewish community. While these programs have certainly moved the needle on awareness around addiction, stigma and shame still have a firm grip on us.
Judgment and a lack of understanding/education fuel stigma, stigma breeds shame, and shame leads to silence. It impacts both the individuals afflicted by this disease and those who love them. Drug overdoses and alcohol-related deaths – which have tragically impacted many Jewish families – are now the leading cause of preventable injury and death, eclipsing auto accidents and gun violence. Many of these deaths are avoidable when we begin to understand addiction as a treatable disease, instead of a moral failing.