Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Our readersJuly 27, 2017
In 2016 more than 900 people in British Columbia died of illicit drug overdoses.(CNS illustration/Michael Swan, Catholic Register)

In response to the above question, almost all respondents (85 percent) told America that they had heard about the opioid crisis. Some readers told us that their community seemed unaffected; others suspected their communities were affected in ways that they were unaware of. Many readers, however, especially those in the Midwest, described how opioid addiction had damaged their relationships and communities in countless ways. One reader from Cincinnati wrote that the opioid crisis “is straining emergency medical services, police [and] foster care, and treatment centers are bursting at the seams. Many lives have been lost…. Unfortunately, some in our community have lost their compassion for those suffering from addiction.”

I’m afraid the community may become immune to helping these people. There is always talk of not administering the drugs that will bring these addicts who overdose back to life.

This struggle for compassion in the context of opioid addiction was a continuing theme among readers’ answers. Another reader from Ohio told America: “I’m afraid the community may become immune to helping these people. There is always talk of not administering the drugs that will bring these addicts who overdose back to life.”

While few shared their own experiences of addiction, many more readers spoke of how the opioid crisis had affected people close to them: siblings, children and friends. A reader from Nashville, whose son suffered from drug addiction and whose community is experiencing widespread opioid addiction, called for people to stop shaming addicts. “Welcome recovering people to church. Addiction—however it begins—is a disease, not a moral issue. Shaming people makes the struggle to get well even harder.”

yt

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Kylea Ryan
7 years 4 months ago

MY HIV AIDS DISEASE WAS CURED IN 2WEEK CONTACT WHAT APP DR AKUNA:+2348154625070

I will remain thankful to the great Dr Akuna for his herbal medicine for curing my HIV AIDS Disease and i was confirm positive in the year 1999 and since that time i have visited many places all to get a permanently cure but there was no cure for it. i surfed internet day and night and for many years i couldn't find any doctor to help me. but one midnight i work up and i was on a memorial guestbook and i decided to check out the comment below. there i found remedy to my suffering. Dr Akuna was the herbal Doc that i was recommended to contact and i some how had faith that Dr Akuna could be my solution. i visited his websites. and he was good in curing many diseases. but after writing to him. he informed me better on how he works and how i can get his herbal medicine and he further assure me that i will be cured in 2weeks of using his herbal medicine. lo and behold it was true after i received his herbal medicine and used it i went to check myself and my doctor said i was negative, i couldn't believe it but i was true. several's others disease he also cure, SARS. HANTAVIRUS .HEPATITIS B,DIABETES & STD'S.HERPES and many more. contact him now: drakunasolutiontemple@gmail.com or his Websites:http://drakunasolutiontem.wixsite.com/dr-akuna or what app him:+2348154625070

The latest from america

Pope Francis reads his speech to officials of the Roman Curia and the College of Cardinals during his annual pre-Christmas meeting with them in the Hall of Blessing above the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Dec. 21, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
In Francis’ 12th Christmas address to the Roman Curia, he reminded them, “An ecclesial community lives in joyful and fraternal harmony to the extent that its members walk the path of humility.”
Gerard O’ConnellDecember 21, 2024
With the opening of the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis’ schedule of liturgies in December and January has expanded.
Catholic News ServiceDecember 20, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump on Dec. 20 announced his intention to appoint Brian Burch, currently the president of CatholicVote, as the next U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See.
Kate Scanlon - OSV NewsDecember 20, 2024
Despite his removal, Bishop Joseph E. Strickland has remained an outspoken detractor of Pope Francis, both online and at various events organized by Catholic laity opposed to the Holy Father.
Gina Christian - OSV NewsDecember 20, 2024