The opioid crisis has hit New Hampshire particularly hard, and the debate about the best way to combat addiction is raging on all levels of our society. While opiates are proving particularly deadly, addiction in all its forms causes irreparable damage to countless lives and continues cycles of trauma across generations. Instead of viewing addiction as either a moral failing (a view often taken by the conservative right) or a purely chemical disease (the liberal left’s paradigm), a third perspective based on the “Rat Park” experiment of the 1970s offers us another way to engage with addiction on a personal level. How can we as Unitarian Universalists engage with addiction in our society, our community, and our families?

Today’s Community Plate will be given to Child and Family Services of New Hampshire.