In your April 25 editorial titled, "Citizens must demand solutions to heroin epidemic," you state, "As the epidemic mounts, no one at the federal, state or local level has offered a serious plan to combat this epidemic."
This is not true; your editor has not done his/her homework. The federal government is making $485 million per year for up to two years available to states to help combat the opioid crisis. The funds are provided for in the 21st Century Cures Act through the State Targeted Response to the Opioid Crisis Grants.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, and Center for Substance Abuse Prevention have just concluded accepting applications for these fiscal year 2017 grants.
The program aims to address the opioid crisis by increasing access to treatment, reducing unmet treatment need, and reducing opioid overdose-related deaths through the provision of prevention, treatment and recovery activities for opioid use disorder, including prescription opioids as well as illicit drugs such as heroin.
These grants will be awarded to states and territories via formula based on unmet need for opioid use disorder treatment and drug poisoning deaths – just what your editorial claims is needed but for which you incorrectly state no plan is offered.
Perhaps a more useful editorial on your behalf would be to report on your investigation as to whether Delaware has submitted its grant proposal to receive its share of this enormous amount of funding to fight the heroin epidemic here in Sussex County.
You also state in your editorial, "This epidemic was brought to us by drug companies selling relief without properly warning of its dangers." What a wrong and myopic point of view! In fact, every prescription dispensed by a pharmacy for an opioid pharmaceutical is accompanied by a lengthy explanation of the drug: its potential side effects, dosage, and other information that warns of its dangers.
How arrogant of you to presume that you know the reason for the epidemic and offer absolutely no support for your assertion that drug companies are the fault.
Nowhere in your editorial do you even imply that the cause, or even one of the causes, could be the tons and tons of illegal heroin smuggled across our national borders into our cities and suburbs to be sold at enormous profits with no concern for the health of the purchaser.
You say nothing is being done at the federal, state, or local level about this, yet President Trump will be offering a plan to build a wall to help stop the influx of heroin into our country from the south.
In addition, the federal government at present is unable to arrest and deport many drug-dealing degenerates in our society because some state and local law enforcement officials grant them virtual immunity in their so-called sanctuary cities.
Yes, your editorial is fake news because it is not based on fact. First, it is based on a false statement that nothing is being done about this problem when indeed there is. Second, it is based on an unsubstantiated statement that places the blame of the heroin epidemic on pharmaceutical firms while avoiding any discussion of illegal smuggling by drug dealers.
In summary, there are serious plans being offered to combat this epidemic and to identify its source - you just overlooked or chose to not state them.
Ken Dietel
Lewes
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to newsroom@capegazette.com. Letters must be signed and include a telephone number and address for verification. Please keep letters to 500 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days. Letters restating information and opinions already offered by the same author will not be used. Letters must focus on issues of general, local concern, not personalities or specific businesses.
