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Opinion: It’s time to measure addiction recovery rates, not just addiction rates

Estimating state-by-state recovery rates can better help communities hit hard by addiction.
A patient's unfinished puzzle sits on a table at the Neil Kennedy Recovery Center in Youngstown, Ohio.

Lost among the headlines of opioid addiction and overdose deaths are the many quiet stories of recovery. An estimated 22 million Americans — that includes the three of us — are in recovery from opioid and other addictions. We say “estimated” because states and the federal government don’t track recovery like they track addiction rates or overdoses.

Oregon, recently in providing mental health and addiction treatment services by Mental Health America, and almost last in terms of adults needing but not receiving treatment for substance use disorders, is about to change that. We urge

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