LETTER Two parts to the drug war
There are two parts to the war on drug overdoses in Southwest Pennsylvania and in the country.
The first part deals with the identification of the drugs used in overdoses, and determining where they are originating from. Do they come from within or outside the United States? Is this a border problem or not? Are we correct to assume that the majority of the problem arises from an overprescribing medical community?
The average person tries to understand the problem. There are articles stating that the drugs are coming illegally from pharmacies or doctors, and other articles focus on the heroin or fentanyl problem. More than likely, the issues encompass all of the above, but what has caused the problem to worsen over the past few years?
The second part of our drug problem is the human aspect. Why does a person choose to use drugs? Who should hold and administer Narcan? Is society doing too much or not enough to treat users and overdose victims?
The Observer-Reporter is to be commended for its recent article on Greene County overdose data. The newspaper sued Greene County to gather actual data on the problem. There was no speculation in the article, only facts. The data shows that heroin is a problem, but minor compared to fentanyl and the category “other.” Maybe this will be the start of a series of fact-gathering articles by the Observer-Reporter, and maybe these articles will allow our politicians to start trying to understand the first part of this letter. They have been focusing on the second part of the problem, which is good. But how can our government help to slow down the supply?
Chuck Moyer
Canonsburg