We have written extensively about the uptick in opioid and heroin abuse that is ravaging Delaware County, as well as much of the nation.
We've noted the connection between powerful prescription painkillers - often initially used legitimately - that often end in addiction, and a hunt for a cheaper alternative. That often is heroin.
We've written about the county Heroin Task Force set up by District Attorney Jack Whelan to battle this new plague.
We've written about the charges brought against several doctors engaging in what are described as "pill mills," handing out prescriptions for cash, sometimes not even requiring an examination.
We've written about the push to make Naloxone, a drug that can reverse the effects of a heroin or opioid overdose. Thanks to a big push by local advocates such as Lynne Massi and Tricia Stouch, every first responder in Delaware County now has access to it.
But very little we have written packs the emotion wallop of today's letter to the editor from Alicia Atene. The Brookhaven woman lost her brother to drugs.
It should be required reading in every school and family.
Thanks, Alicia.
You said it better - and more powerfully - than I ever could.
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