Jun 19, 2016 3 min read

I we’ve learned anything from the opioid crisis over the past few years, it’s that there is no silver bullet in battling addiction.

What works for one addict won’t work for another.

A rally at the Greene County Fairgrounds in May focused on the power of spirituality and prayer in fighting drug abuse. Meanwhile, it was announced last week that all five school districts in Greene County will be participating in a drug-prevention curriculum, while a separate group plans to offer recreational alternatives to teens that will potentially help steer them away from drugs. And then there are the two sober-living group homes in Waynesburg that are operated through the Oxford House system and promote recovery.

But the more controversial options are those that include drug treatment centers.

A proposed methadone clinic at a business park in Cumberland Township was met with fierce resistance, prompting the developer to move it down Route 21 to a different site in Monongahela Township.

A drug treatment clinic is also being proposed on East High Street in Waynesburg, prompting pushback from a councilman during a public meeting last week. Doctors at The Bridge to Wellness clinic would write prescriptions for Suboxone, and the facility would offer counseling along with alternative therapy such as yoga.

It will be the second Suboxone clinic in the community after A&R Solutions began operating at 62 W. High St. earlier this year.

“We don’t need this in our town,” Councilman Mark Fischer said last week at the meeting.

Maybe Fischer and others in the area should wake up to the fact that “this” is already in our town, our county and our region. Just look at the rate of petty crime and the number of repeat drug offenders going through the Greene County Courthouse like it’s a revolving door.

Heroin and opioid abuse is the most pressing public health crisis in a generation and is wiping out the promising futures of many young people.

It’s understandable why some residents might have reservations about putting another such facility in the heart of the borough’s business district. But what location would be suitable? Would it be better in a rural area far from those who need treatment, or in a back alley out of view from the public?

That seems to be the biggest problem right now with the heroin crisis – many people don’t want to openly discuss it or even acknowledge there’s a problem.

That’s a mistake.

Heroin is here and it isn’t going away any time soon.

And as long as it is here, there will need to be multiple options available to addicts looking for help. A drug treatment clinic in Waynesburg – along with prayer and rallies and therapy and preventative measures – is just another option.

Anything and everything should be on the table for people fighting addiction, and drug treatment facilities should be involved in the conversation. Let’s find what works and be bold enough to implement it.

Doing nothing might be a choice, but it’s not an option when it comes to fighting the heroin epidemic.