My home area has been greatly affected by the nation's heroin epidemic; even before the epidemic reached news stations, a town nearby has always struggled with heroin addiction. So what is the solution?

As a psychology major, I've studied addiction and it's consequences since my AP Psychology class in high school. My aspirations towards the law give me a particular interest in drugs and their resulting legal ramifications. My boyfriend knows my interest in this area and showed me a video by Kurzgesagt, Addiction In A Nutshell. It's definitely worth a look and it describes how drug addiction is a "symptom of the crisis of disconnection" we face in our country.

With the ever-growing functionality of technology, we fail to make connections with our fellow human beings. On campus, it's hard to ignore the swarms of people taking selfies in the coffee line or the fact that all through dinner your friends are on their phones instead of talking to you. I see this problem at home with my own family as well. We are all guilty of choosing virtual friendships with the device in our hands over the very real friendships with the people we sit next to in class, have lunch with, or live with in our residence halls and apartments. By doing this, we cast each other out into the lonely existence of reality.

Humans are social beings who require friendship, acceptance, and bonding to lead happy, healthy lives. Ohio State has over a thousand clubs to help us find people who share interests with us to bond with so we can be accepted into a group. "No person is an island." Those who are cast out from society turn to drugs, alcohol, pornography and a whole host of other things to bond with -- including heroin.

So how do we solve the problem? The first step is to focus on drugs as a mental health and public health problem rather than a crime problem. Drugs have been used since the dawn of time by several different cultures without criminal charges. While we all understand that drugs are a problem, they are only a symptom of a greater threat.

Second, decriminalizing possession of personal amounts of drugs, especially marijuana, is a key ingredient in keeping families together and reducing the amount of tax dollars being wasted on a lost cause. It's ridiculous that a person can go to prison for longer on a possession charge than a rape charge. Drug users don't need prison, they need help.

Third, opening dispensaries will help in reducing the number of people dying as a result of drug use. Many street drugs are diluted and cut with various other chemicals and each manufacturer uses their own recipe. This results in varying doses and is one of the primary causes of overdose. Dispensaries would provide the same dose each time in a much purer

Finally, we need to reach out to each other. When people feel neglected they turn to counterproductive measures to dull the ache of rejection. A human without human contact will feel depressed, dejected and worthless. These feelings can lead to several of our nation's biggest problems such as violence, heroine and obesity. If we can all socialize and be kind to one another a huge positive impact could be made.