Letter to the Editor

We need to work together to solve the opioid crisis

TO THE EDITOR,

As a Reagan Democrat who voted for Donald Trump last November, I am not a Trumpocrat.  What his son Donald Trump Jr. did meeting with Russians who held out the idea that they had good opposition research on Hillary was pure stupidity. He even dragged his brother-in-law into the nonsense showing that he also was stupid to attend the meeting.

However, I think the recently editorial bashing Kellyanne Conway was unfair to her. US Sen. Ed Markey was not 100 percent correct in criticizing Conway. Yes, there was a better way of saying what she said,  but in the fight against the growing opioid death spiral, what is wrong with holding addicts at least somewhat responsible for their deadly actions . Addiction is a disease  but that doesn’t mean that those suffering from it are totally helpless to seek treatment. Yes, we need more monies, more education and more understanding but no one is helpless.

Recently, in nearby Quincy in one 48 hour weekend period, there were eight uses of Narcan on six individuals. Two of them overdosed twice in 48 hours. Responders make no judgments. They just respond and hope victims survive for another day. I am glad the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center got some recent help from state government with opioid overdose victims.

As a retired police officer of 28 hours, I tried never to judge people. I just did my job which included saving lives on several occasions. I have sympathy for victims and their plight but I refuse to turn people into helpless victims. Education more of it is needed and a bit of tough love too. Society needs to be in the business of empowering folks and not turning them into empty vessels.

Markey is a typical politician and attacking Conway for her words is itself outrageous. Criticize her for not advocating for more funds for the substance abuse treatment. However, advocating as she did that victims need to help themselves too is not being disrespectful to anyone.

Opioid addiction is in crisis mode here and nationwide. We must do all we can to curb it, lessen it and help those suffering from it. It will take a commitment by all parts of society to meet the challenge.

I would rather see United States senators working to bring this opioid crisis to an end. Stop bashing each other and just do your job. That goes for Conway too.

Sincerely,

SAL GIARRATANI

EAST BOSTON

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *