I read the article in your paper last week about an employee at a local physician’s office who faces charges of, among other things, prescription fraud. Just the week prior, I read of several grand jury indictments handed down in Tazewell County. A majority of those indictments included prescription fraud. Am I the only one who can see a pattern here?
Prescription drug abuse is alive and well in Southwest Virginia! This problem isn’t going away people! I do commend law enforcement and our drug task forces for their vigilance for drug busts and subsequent indictments. For someone truly addicted to drugs, scare tactics rarely work. The threat of being arrested rarely works. The threat of incarceration rarely works. The threat of overdosing and dying rarely works. What virtually all drug addicts lack that they desperately need is hope. They need to believe that there is a possibility that they might somehow get better.
Where is the help in our area for the addicted? Shouldn’t we start at the root of the problem? Where are the resources for the families of the addicts? This isn’t a problem we can ignore. Sooner or later it will touch someone close to you. We can’t just sweep it under the rug. It is a real problem and will be present in our communities until we find a real solution.
Let’s pretend one of your family members has a prescription drug addiction. Now go to the phone book or the Internet or your local physician and try to find a treatment option. Let me know what you find. It’s an eye-opener.
We complain about the problem, but we don’t want to face it and solve it. We need to remember everyone deserves a chance to recover. Addiction is a disease, and we need to start treating it like one.
Lia Johnson
Saltville, Va.
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