The struggles and triumphs of an addict

In March, the commander in chief of the War on Drugs stood in front of a crowd of policymakers, advocates and recovering addicts to declare that America has been doing it wrong. Speaking at the National Prescription Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in Atlanta – focused on an overdose epidemic now killing some 30,000 Americans a year – President Barack Obama declared, "For too long we have viewed the problem of drug abuse ... through the lens of the criminal justice system," creating grave costs: "We end up with jails full of folks who can't function when they get out. We end up with people's lives being shattered." Touting a plan to increase drug-treatment spending by more than $1 billion – the capstone to the administration's effort to double the federal drug-treatment budget – Obama insisted, "This is a straightforward proposition: How do we save lives once people are addicted, so that they have a chance to recover? It doesn't do us much g...

                                  America: Addiction by the numbers 1. 21.5 million: The amount of people aged 12 or older in 2014 had a substance use disorder in the past year. 2. 1 in 5: The amount of young adults in 2014 who were users of illicit drugs. 3. 7,800:The daily number of people 12 and over who tried an illicit drug for the first time. 4. Marijuana: The drug most new illicit drug users begin with. Followed by prescription pain relievers and then inhalants. 5. 700 Billion: The amount the abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs costs to our Nation annually in costs related to crime, lost work productivity and health care. 6. 3x: The amount the business of recovery has increased in the last 25 years. 7. 14,000: The amount of addiction treatment facilities. 8. 35 billion: The an...

SAN DIEGO -- California's new law allowing life-ending drugs for the terminally ill has the strictest requirements of any of the five states that permit such prescriptions. The law in the nation's most populous state goes into effect June 9. It was approved following the widely publicized case of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old California woman with terminal brain cancer who moved to Oregon so she could legally end her life in 2014. Dr. Eric Walsh, the Oregon physician who prescribed the medication to Maynard and 19 others, says he believes terminally ill patients should have the option. "When somebody's facing the end of their life shouldn't they be in control? Shouldn't I be able to help them when they're suffering, and the burden of living becomes intolerable to them?" Walsh said. He spoke to CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook for a "60 Minutes" report on Maynard's death and the aid-in-dying movement. Dr. Dan...