We’re living in the age of addiction. Here’s what every Christian needs to know

Whether its hard drugs, soft porn or just internet shopping, millions of us are addicts. But turning off the tap that supplies us with addictive substances won’t solve the problem. Instead, we need to ask why so many are so thirsty in the first place, says Andy Partington

“The use of heroin by American troops in Vietnam has reached epidemic proportions,” reported the New York Times on May 16, 1971. “The epidemic is seen by many here as the Army’s last great tragedy in Vietnam.”

As the Vietnam War crept toward its conclusion, heroin use among US service personnel surged. By the early 70s, there were more heroin addicts enlisted in the ranks of the US Army than in the civilian population back home. Politicians stateside panicked at the prospect of US towns and cities being overwhelmed by drug-addicted veterans. President Nixon declared heroin addiction the nation’s leading public health concern. The military launched a programme nicknamed Operation Golden Flow, which compelled soldiers who had ever tested positive for heroin to detox and provide a clean urine sample before being allowed to return home.

The data gathered by Operation Golden Flow and face-to-face interviews with a cohort of 898 soldiers who returned from Vietnam in September 1971 formed the basis of a fascinating study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. It showed that before Vietnam, less than 1 per cent of US soldiers had ever been addicted to narcotics. While deployed in Vietnam, almost 50 per cent of troops tried drugs, and 20 per cent reported opiate addiction. Yet, on returning to the US, rates of heroin addiction returned to pre-Vietnam levels.

All this begs vital questions whose answers shed light on today’s addiction epidemic. First, why did heroin addiction among service personnel reach such heights during deployment? Second, how did so many heroin addicts manage to leave their drug use behind them in the jungles of Vietnam?