We've spent a lot of time writing about the opioid epidemic in Delaware County.
Last night I got to see it face-to-face.
I was asked by Parkside Mayor Tom Deitman to moderate a panel discussion on the opioid problem and the devastating effect it is having on communities, not just here in Delco, but across the region and nation.
He assembled a great panel of experts to talk about the crisis, how the county is attacking it, and the help that is available for this struggling with addiction.
A small group of residents got a lot of very good information from Dr. George Avetian, the county's top medical adviser; Brian Corson, one of the region's foremost rehab experts and the head of MVP Recovery; Dave Moran, who heads treatment services for Crozer-Keystone Health Systems; Parkside Police Chief John Eagan; and legal updates from new county District Attorney Katayoun Copeland and former U.S. Attorney's Office drug prosecutor Clare Putnam Pozos.
But it was the faces of those people who came out, clearly searching for answers, that had the biggest effect on me.
They submitted questions that left no doubt they knew all too well what this scourge is doing to families.
They asked about how they could get help with treatment and rehab. Why more was not being done to help those who do not have private insurance get into treatment centers. And what was being done to help addicts gain employment as they re-enter society.
Since I had the opportunity, I decided to ask someone who would know a question that has been bothering me for awhile now in terms of our coverage of this crisis.
On occasion when we write about the opioid problem, we run stock photos to accompany the story, often of piles of discarded syringes, emblematic of the problem.
I have now been asked in several phone calls not to use such imagery, that it can literally be a "trigger" to those in recovery that can lead them back into their old, problematic ways.
I asked Brian Corson if such beliefs were legitimate.
He did not hesitate to indicate his belief that they did. But more than that, he suggested that enough really has been written about the problem and its devastating effects.
What he said is not written about nearly enough is the success stories, those who have completed rehab and treatment and are now once again leading productive lives.
It's a great point.
I asked him for the names of some people who are remaining clean who are willing to talk about their journey on the record.
One thing I learned a long time ago in this business is never to make promises.
That's why I can't say we'll never use an image of syringes again.
But I learned some valuable information last night.
The opioid crisis is not going away.
But there is a side to the story that desperately needs to be told - in part as an example to people that recovery is possible.
I plan on telling that story.
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