I'm JD McGibney, and in this episode I'll be chatting with the adventurous, the ambitious, the fearless, inspiring, and elegant Lean Martin-Brown of Evol Walks! Today we'll be talking about addiction. In the United States alone, millions of people struggle with some form of addiction from tobacco, alcohol, or a wide array of illicit drugs. Focusing on alcohol for a moment, the fact that it is a legally purchased substance (for those over the age of 21) makes it easily obtainable, and therefore opens the door for users to expand their addictive habits to other substances. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 14.5 Million people (12 years and older) in the United States have Alcohol Use Disorder, or "Alcoholism." They also say that 95,000 people die annually from alcohol related deaths. In 2019, about 10,000 of those were from drunk driving. According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, about 700,000 people have died from drug overdoses in general since the year 2000; over half a million people. They also state that drug abuse tends to be an issue that affects more people living in cities over those living in more rural areas. On top of that, they also point out that drug abuse tends to affect younger people, generally around the ages belonging to those in high school and college.