Treat heroin crisis like the emergency it is: Editorial

How many more heroin overdose heartbreaks must Delaware endure?

This week, News Journal reporter Brittany Horn brings us the story of Penny Rogers, who is grieving the loss of her son, Vincente. He moved to Florida to get away from a bad crowd, found a good job and seemed to have gotten sober. His mom thought he was on the mend.

And then he was gone.

All across America, the disease of opioid addiction is taking lives — an estimated 142 daily. In Delaware, 133 people have already died this year.

We have got to make this stop.

The good news is that awareness of the epidemic is spreading.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump said he intends to declare the opioid crisis a national emergency. Such a move would empower his administration to take swifter action and could free up more federal funding while Congress remains gridlocked over health care.

We are glad to see the president acknowledging the seriousness of the crisis.

We fear, though, that the administration will follow the lead of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and emphasize a zero-tolerance, heavy-handed law enforcement approach that has proven ineffective at best on issues like marijuana, immigration and asset forfeiture.

This is not a crisis of law enforcement. Addicts need help, not punishment.

Delaware leaders seem to understand this.

Amidst the fierce partisan standoff over issues like the state budget, there is widespread agreement among both Democrats and Republicans in the General Assembly that our society must do more to fight opioid addiction.

The General Assembly squeezed $1 million out of a threadbare budget to beef up treatment programs, adding to the $4 million the state got from the federal 21st Century Cures Act. Lawmakers have made it easier for law enforcement and the general public to obtain naloxone, the life-saving heroin overdose drug, and taken steps to make inpatient residential drug treatment more affordable.

More must be done. Delaware must teach its doctors to prescribe far fewer addictive painkillers. And state law enforcement must have the tools to crack down on the rare, unscrupulous physicians who are handing opioids out like candy. The state needs more treatment options.

But the responsibility does not just lie with the government. One of the biggest hurdles to preventing overdoses is the pervasive stigma that haunts those with addiction, preventing them from seeking help.

The science is increasingly clear: Addicts are not necessarily bad people with weak wills. They are people suffering from a disease, one that can only be cured with a long, hard battle to sobriety.

Given the scope of the opioid epidemic, it is increasingly likely that someone you know is dealing with addiction, whether it’s themselves or a loved one.

Want to do your part? Don’t condemn that person; lift them up and help them out.

This is one fight where we’re all on the same team. Or at least we should be.

The News Journal's editorial opinions are decided by its editorial board, which is separate from the news staff.