This is why a developmentally informed, trauma-aware perspective is so important for all of our systems impacted by or dealing with substance use and dependence—education, mental health, health, law enforcement, juvenile and criminal justice, family courts. It is impossible to find any part of our society where this is not an issue. We have such good intentions, and we have good people, and we’re spending a lot of money, but we’re ineffective because we are not understanding the underlying mechanisms that make someone vulnerable to chronic substance use.
