Too many of our young are dying because of addiction and the new poisons that pass for recreational drugs. Our friends and family are being intentionally poisoned.
I am no authority on the drug trade or addiction or eradication or treatment, or any other related subject. I am just a father and a grandfather who has shed too many tears to remain silent, having tried to help young people in my family and in my life beat addition. If you have ever been here, then you know that you would rather hear that your child has any other disease than addiction. That is a harsh statement that is in no way meant to diminish the pain of others.
Addiction is worse than ever today because of fentanyl and methamphetamines. If you have ever watched the transformation of a person’s mind, spirit and body go from sober to hooked on these drugs then you immediately know the level of utter destruction that it causes. It’s rapid. It is severe. It can only be described as madness. I began this letter simply wanting to write a brief letter to a couple of local papers hoping that a drug dealer who deals this poison would read it and feel our anger and sorrow to the point of turning themselves in to law enforcement. The flaw in that idyllic thought faded quickly. And then I thought that maybe a fentanyl or meth user would read it and find the strength to stop. I pray that either of these happen, but they probably will not. Not because of this. Addicts probably are not reading the editorial section of the paper right now.
A more realistic idea is that for just a moment, the people who love an addict and hate the merchants of death who sell these drugs might have a voice and energize the people and agencies who do battle with this problem. So this letter is for everyone of us who battles this every day and tries to find hope in what can be so hopeless.
According to an April 2023 research article by The Council on Foreign Relations “fentanyl and other opioids are fueling the worst drug crisis in American history”. I believe it. It seems to me that a young person who has overdosed on fentanyl is covered with a sheet or placed into a body bag too often in our Laurens and Clinton communities too often. I personally can name three in the past couple of months and I am sure that there are more. We should treat this as a local crisis. I would love for our brightest and most passionate professionals to lead a local strategy to address this problem as a crisis. A crisis response is what this deserves on a local, state, national and international level.
Fentanyl is fifty times more potent than heroin. The DEA states that six out ten fentanyl pills are lethal. One out of two trigger pulls can blow your brains out. And the evil, human garbage who sells this to our friends and family know that they are selling death. Let’s treat them as the killers that they have chosen to be.
To any fentanyl or meth user who reads this. There are people who love you and want you to live and thrive. You are being fed poison by some of the most evil people in your community. They know that you might die and they do not care.
To those who sell this poison, I hope this letter encourages and reminds law enforcement to hunt you down and for prosecutors to end your freedom forever. Live in fear and reap your just reward.
To our legislators, punish the Chinese and Mexican entities that provide this across our borders. Fund education and rehabilitation.
To our medical community leaders, be an active voice and help the community develop strategy.
To our local papers, this is a crisis that you should keep a spotlight on. Please do.
For all of us. For too long we have become people who do not speak loudly enough. Our loud voice can make things happen. Dig in. Get stubborn. Get mad. Cry. Shout. We’re Americans and we used to know how to rebel for a righteous cause. I say that this deserves loud! I hope this gets the attention of many and that many will also make their voice be heard.
A former Clinton resident, David Walker lives in Ninety Six, Greenwood County.
