Letter to the editor:
I commend USA TODAY for educating the public about the role of supervised injection sites in saving lives from opioid overdose. Indeed, there are reforms that government can enact to pave the way for these facilities. The story of the camaign in Ithaca, N.Y., to create our nation’s first supervised injection site illustrates where the real change happens: on the ground.
The strategy was revolutionary because it was shaped by input from people battling addiction and all parties that interact with. Federal and state officials must follow Ithaca’s lead and take action. But communities plagued by our nation’s opioid epidemic don’t have to wait. They can — and must — start making these changes today.
Kassandra Frederique; New York
Facebook comments are edited for clarity, length and grammar:
Providing safe heroin injection spots, then saving every overdose, will result in those heroin addicts simply getting up, spitting in the face of those who served them and narcissistically saying, “I'm going to keep doing it, and you're going to have to save me!”
In other words, there will never be an improvement. There is one thing that will stop the epidemic: Our population becoming better, decent, noble, aspiring, capable individuals, looking to improve the world and themselves.
— Julian Penrod
Go hang out with a group of junkies for a week so you’re informed on what life is like on heroin. You can't help a junkie. Here's an idea: Let's put everything we have into prevention and actually stopping the flow of heroin from getting into this country.
I have no sympathy for anyone on heroin.
— Joseph Fleury
