May 8, 2016 4 min read

Heroin has become a scourge on our society.

One must only look through the pages of this newspaper each day to see its grip on so many of our fellow citizens, and the crime it causes.

Unlike dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, which robs seniors of their most precious memories, heroin and opiate abuse robs people of their potential, especially our youth.

And its grasp on society has no limits. The heroin epidemic has no demographic boundaries when it comes to race, affluence or geographic location.

So it’s not surprising there are anti-heroin rallies and marches within eight days of each other in the City of Washington and Greene County.

A dozen people spoke Saturday at Washington High School during the Fifth Fight Against Heroin March and Rally. They told stories of addiction and the suffering families and friends face when a loved one becomes hooked or even dies from an overdose.

Just 23 miles down Interstate 79, pastors and congregations from churches across Greene County are also preparing to march and rally this Saturday near Waynesburg. The march will begin at 10 a.m. at Greene County Airport and lead to the county fairgrounds, where speakers will take the stage and resource information will be available. Event organizers are hoping for 2,000 people to march along Route 21 in a show of force against the epidemic.

But the March for a Brighter Greene is not about awareness, according to the Rev. Richard Berkey, one of the event’s organizers.

“What we’re saying is ‘we’ve had enough’ and it’s time to take our families back,” he told Observer-Reporter staff writer Katie Anderson earlier this month.

Most people would agree.

While organizing to discuss this epidemic is a step in the right direction, marching alone will not solve this problem.

There were multiple marches last year in Washington – including one in August that was cut short early after reports of two overdoses in a nearby city neighborhood. Yet, there were 73 drug overdose deaths in Washington County last year.

These marches and rallies need to become a pivot point to catapult the community into demanding action from elected leaders and law enforcement. The speakers at the Washington rally, along with the resources that are being made available to people attending the march in Greene County, are a good starting point to give direction and support to families who know someone addicted to heroin or prescription pills.

Now is the time for a lengthy and detailed discussion that brings the community together to find a solution that centers on treatment.

That message seems to be getting through to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, who told the Observer-Reporter last week treatment for addicts needs to be the first option before arresting them. He called for a “warm handoff policy” that allowed addicts who are treated in emergency rooms for overdoses to immediately be sent to treatment instead of having to wait a day or two because there are no beds available.

“We need to do a better job of distinguishing between dealers and addicts,” he said. “We can’t arrest our way to a cure.”

It’s time to invest more resources in drug treatment centers and end the typical neighborhood push-back against such facilities. It’s also incumbent upon the federal government to find ways to cut down on the amount of highly-addictive pain medication that is too easily dispensed by “pill mill” doctors and is the typical gateway drug to heroin abuse.

But, most importantly, it’s time to offer compassion and support to people battling this disease, along with their families. As long as the stigma persists, it will remain difficult for families to face down this scourge and get help for their relatives.

Hopefully, that’s what these marches will spur in the coming weeks and months.

This crisis did not happen overnight and it won’t end immediately either.