We live in a world where it seems that everyone is running low of pleasure and high on pain. It has become increasingly difficult to see hope in the darkness, but we miss the key to getting through life. Events and ongoing circumstances that cause us pain, fear, anger, and more are actually where we can discover the most hope if we look hard enough.

Just recently, out president declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency. This should not take you by surprise, but many of us go through the motions every day, oblivious to too much. I am no exception. It was not even until three days after this declaration that I learned of the news and from, of all places, my church. The opioid epidemic has shown has revealed an exponentially increasing rate of drug usage for some time. Before I elaborate more on the epidemic emergency itself, let me make sure we are on the same page with some key information about opioids.

"Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, and many others. (NIDA)"

Opioids are efficient in quickly doing what they have been designed to, increasing the feeling of pleasure and decreasing feelings of pain. Because of this, opioids are some of the most abused drugs. Additionally, they are really accessible for many and very addictive. Opioids alter many things in a person's body.

First, they disturb the body's emotional control center, the limbic system, to increase those feelings of pleasure and relaxation.

Next, they act on the brainstem to hijack things that body does automatically. Opioids can slow down breathing, reduce pain, and even stop coughing.

Then, they tap into the spinal cord to interrupt sensations before they have the chance to reach your brain.

Through this, opioids decrease pain. Do not be fooled by all this because opioid usage has consequences just like anything else. Side effects of opioids include drowsiness, paranoia, respiratory depression, and nausea. If this does not sound unpleasant enough for you, then you need to know that long-term opioid consequences include brain damage since opioids basically rewire your brain.

Dependence on these drugs is so hard to recover from because the brain has learned to function on opioids. The brain does not have the ability to heal the damage, but rather, is forced to adapt to work through it.

The opioid crisis might be news to you, but this epidemic is far from being new. Since 1990, the number of deaths from opioid overdoses has increased 650%... 650%!

As of 2016, overdoses have become the leading cause for people under the age of 50. This crisis affects us all, all of socioeconomic groups, all races, people of all ages. People have gone to compare the number of deaths from opioids to the number of fatalities from the entire Vietnam conflict.

Why? Because they are comparable to each other. These opioids kill. Right now 91 people die every single day across our beloved country from opioid overdoses. That is almost a person every 15 minutes!

Everything I have given you so far has been pretty generic. Enough with the basic facts and national data. Let me focus in on our home here in Virginia. In 2015, Virginia suffered from 1,005 deaths from this crisis. If we jump to 2016, things do not get any better. Virginia saw at least 1,387 deaths from overdoses in 2016. That is about a 38% increase in just a matter of 365 days. If you take a closer look at our community surrounding Virginia Tech, it is, even more, eye-opening.

Blacksburg, VA is a part of Montgomery Country and New River Valley (NRV). I strongly believe the poverty and struggle are masked but the sheer size of the university and the tens of thousands of students that move in most of the year.

For every one of my peers and many members of the community here at Virginia Tech, we are familiar with the motto, "This is home." Well, in the backyard of our home, 16,000 people in 2015 suffered from a drug disorder. That is more than half of the entire student body of Virginia Tech. What is even more heartwrenching is this: within the past 30 days, 11.4% of high school students in the New River Valley have used opioids to get high. The national average itself for high school students in the past 30 days is 3.4% We have almost four times the national average here, at home. My soul aches to hear this.

Where do we go from here? How can we find the light at the end of the tunnel? This problem affects each and every one of us, but it is too big for one person to handle. For Christ's Sake, it is too much for any group of people to tackle without a few things:

First, have faith.

Everything does happen for a reason and eventually something right will rise up above all of this wrong.

Second, have hope.

Things will not always be like this. It might not be tomorrow or even next week, but this crisis, this epidemic, will turn around. In due time, everything works out to be okay.

Next, you must pray.

Pray for everyone affected by this mess. Pray for the specific people you know who are struggling. Pray with other people. Prayer has the power to do great things. This power is as simple as bringing people together but can expand to heal people.

Finally, focus on community and connection.

This requires you to be informed. There is a wide range of severity of people struggling with opioid abuse. For many, abstinence is not a tangible form of treatment, and more harm can come from people going into withdrawal and suffering in that. Support can move mountains. Do not tell people what to do, but find out what they need you to do for them. Give people this community. People who abuse substances can often feel like they have lost themselves. Listen to these real, soulful people.

The last part of connection and community is to contact your elected officials. Our president made the first step in declaring this epidemic a public health emergency, but there is so much more to do. We cannot go at this alone. With help from the masses, including you, we can help people have access to the care and treatment that they deserve. The treatment that people need. Then we can begin to prevent people from wanting to use these drugs in the first place. This will not be an easy feat, but humanity as a whole can accomplish great things.