To the Editor:

Beyond rising tuition rates, job shortages, and impending student loan debt, another thing keeps

me up at all hours, pondering its outcome. Across the Valley and much of Ohio, in general, our system is

failing in a constant battle with an extreme drug epidemic. Now it’s not the drug users and their substance

abuse, the amount of Narcan their receiving, or the millions of dollars spent in medical coverage to

protect these people that worry me, it’s the children they leave behind when their addiction becomes fatal.

According to a study done by the Public Children’s Services Association of Ohio, “the epidemic is largely

responsible for an 11 percent increase in children in custody in just the past six years.” This number

doesn’t even factor in the number of children who are still living in their homes with drug-addicted

parents or the children who are sent to live with other members of their families.

The news seems to cover a lot about the swiftly rising drug epidemic but fails to see the invisible

victims: the children. Some states, like New Hampshire and Vermont have allotted extra money in their

budgets to hire more social workers for children affected, while other states like Ohio has issued

emergency pleas for more people to foster children who have been neglected.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, Ohio has seen a 36% increase in fatalities from

drug overdoses in just the past year. That is an absolutely devastating statistic to hear. Then

children are left behind and become parentless and alone with no sense of direction and

something needs to be done about this. These children need positive reinforcement and stability

after facing something like this.

Sincerely,

Colton Crissman Youngstown State University, SN