Pubdate: Thu, 31 Mar 2016 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2016 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Author: Judith Sharlin Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n202/a09.html FIGHTING THE SCOURGE OF OPIOID ABUSE To the Editor: Re "Obama Takes Crusade Against Opioids on Road" (news article, March 30): While I was heartened to see that, finally, the administration is stepping up to face the dire epidemic of drug overdose deaths in America, I cannot help but wonder why it took so long. My 22-year-old son is part of the grim 2014 statistic: 28,648 drug deaths from opioids. He died from an accidental heroin overdose in September 2014. His story echoes a familiar tale of the progression from easily accessible prescription painkillers to heroin. And, like many others, he was a sweet, handsome and intelligent young man whose life, dreams and soul were ripped away by the disease of addiction. He was also part of a treatment process that criminalized him - in and out of treatment programs, finally receiving medication for his addiction but unsupervised. Addiction is a disease and needs to be treated like any other public health problem reaching epidemic proportions. I keep staring at the 2014 opioid death map accompanying your article and focusing on the red mass in the state where my son and many others died. I wonder: Why has it taken the opioid overdose death toll to surpass that of traffic accidents in order to be, in Mr. Obama's words, "right at the top of our radar screen"? JUDITH SHARLIN Highland Beach, Fla. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom