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Saturday, May 14, 2016

Community Needs Knowledge With Opioid Battle

“You can’t do enough stories on this. It impacts everyone in our community because nobody is immune from it.”

That’s a comment that has resonated with us for several months. It came from a high school teacher on the lower shore about the opioid crisis facing this community as well as those across the country. The statement came after the teacher noticed fresh track marks on a student’s arms. The teacher notified the school nurse and what happened from there is a familiar tale. There was a report to the parents, who were unaware, then numerous attempts at treatment and years later an overdose with a lot of heartache in between. It’s an unimaginable turn of events that is more and more routinely inflicting this community with heartache and emotional devastation. It has to stop.

As a media company serving this community, it’s imperative we put a spotlight on this epidemic, which is tearing families apart and causing pain and suffering through young lives being lost in the worst case or severely jeopardizing their future at the minimum. We have done dozens of stories on the growing opioid addiction here, but we are planning to explore it with increased vigor to help raise awareness.

We are actively invested in spreading awareness about this problem and the associated resources that might help families and other segments of our society. The motivation is simple. Quite honestly, it’s because we are scared. We are frightened and worried about our own children and their future. The only non-option is to do nothing. We know there are others who feel the same.

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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Addiction has been around forever, education really is unnecessary. How about go get help if you find you can't live a day without your painkillers once your issue is resolved? Now that would make common sense.

Tired Taxpayer said...

Does anyone know how much it cost for a injection of the drug Narcain to combat an overdose?

It is $4,000.00, and we the taxpayer pay for this so a cop or EMS guy can save a dope-head, that will in all likelihood, do it again.
Heroin addicts are 96% of the time to reuse the drug.

We as taxpayers need to demand that this waste of money be stopped. All it does is enable them to live for the next fix.

Anonymous said...

It's about $40 for an officer's Narcan kit. And that's retail per kit. Bulk and wholesale are much less expensive.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a double win for somebody.. pharmaceutical industry big Pharma makes tons of money.. while the heroin trade for the black market compliants of USA have taken back the poppy fields in Afghanistan.

Anonymous said...

This country did NOTHING when we had a serious crack problem. Now you want tax payers pay for this problem. Heroine addicts made the choice. let them live with this choice or send them to jail.

Anonymous said...

Charge the recipient for the police call, the lifesaving injection(s), the ambulance trip and the E.R. bill. It's all on the person who illegally does the heroin.