Feb 28, 2017 2 min read

In response to your Feb. 14 article regarding the heroin epidemic in our area, I’d like to point out that any discussion about addiction must include several factors. For example, the fact that addiction is a disease, just like cancer or diabetes, must be addressed if we hope to make any progress at all. Addiction is a disease, and it needs to be treated accordingly.

I volunteer at Allegheny County jail, teaching an addiction and recovery class. I’ve had my own experiences with drugs and alcohol. The majority of men I deal with find themselves locked up with the key thrown away. They end up just being a number in a bottomless system designed to lock up minor drug offenders who can’t afford a paid attorney when they should be in a treatment facility. I’m not advocating the elimination of jail time for drug offenders. However, if we truly hope to make a substantial impact on the opioid epidemic tearing through our communities, we cannot allow those who suffer from addiction to be another criminal on a probation officer’s caseload, or another case on a judge’s docket sheet. We can do better, and we owe it to our family, friends and communities to do so.

Incarceration may serve as an initial solution, but it cannot be the final solution.

Speaking to the inmates at Allegheny County jail, I don’t judge or criticize. I listen. As we consider new and effective tactics to combat the opioid crisis, our willingness to listen to those who have been affected by addiction should be at the top of our priority list.

My life has been affected by drugs in a way that’s difficult for me to speak about. Addicts need help from people who have been there and truly comprehend the disease of addiction.

Nathan A. Huffman

Eighty Four