Fund opioid addiction treatment, not ad campaigns
Throughout the United States, various reports of opioid abuse have surfaced these past years. Opioids include prescription drugs such as oxycodone and codeine. The main concern with these drugs is that teenagers are acquiring them easily and the amount of addiction-related deaths is rising.
According to the article, “White House launches anti-opioid ad campaign aimed at youth,” the White House has announced that they will begin an ad campaign in order to combat the illegal use of opioids, especially by teenagers. I believe that campaigns like these are a waste of time and money. While advertisements might bring some sort of awareness, they don’t help diminish the problem.
Instead, I think the money used for these ads should be implemented into resources that directly help control the problem, such as addiction hotlines and treatment centers.
In addition, doctors should be limited in the amount of people that they prescribe opioids to and pharmacies that administer these substances should be under supervision. If opioids need to be prescribed to a patient, then there should be a certain limit on dosage and the patient should be supervised. Taking careful precautions such as these can be the difference between a person becoming addicted or not.
As the article states, opioidrelated deaths “rose to about 46,000 … in October 2017.” The amount of lives that can be saved by better directing resources is huge. By directing money towards treatment centers, not only can addicted people be saved, but further addiction can be prevented as well.
Julio Carbajal,
Mission
Grateful for Texas-sized support
Dear people of the great state of Texas: This past February, my third-grade students wrote letters to small-town newspapers around our country. The letters asked people in each state to send items of interest that the student might include in their final state fair project.
My students were thrilled as packages started arriving from all over the country! They received books, newspapers, postcards, maps and many unique items from the wonderful and generous people of the United States of America.
This project could not have been the success that it was without you! I’ve had several parents indicate that their family would be taking a trip to the state that their child learned about this school year to see the beauty and unique qualities first-hand. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.
Shari Bozorgzad,
McLean, Virginia
