To the Editor

A Jan. 1 front-page article in the Whitehall-Coplay Press explained an effort to have local police administer Naloxone to a person who overdoses on heroin. (Editor's note: The article appears in this week's Catqasauqua Press). Capital BlueCross is providing funding.

For families, particularly children, affected by the scourge and illness of addiction, this development offers hope for a chance at recovery. It is one piece of providing care.

We families who have endured a gut wrenching, painful struggle with teen addiction welcome this action.

No matter how it takes root within one's brain, addiction can best be defined as a "monster." It lurks within a person's psyche waiting for a trigger to cause relapse and, in some cases, death. It is a very dark space, ever-present no matter how well the recovering person feels. Once addicted, using is not a choice. Those who have not experienced this, either personally or with an addicted child, may have little understanding.

Teenage drug addiction results from a combination of factors. There is a genetic component, peer pressure; adult and societal role modeling; sexual, psychological and/or physical trauma; and a not yet fully developed brain prefrontal cortex. Full development occurs well into a person's 20s. Lack thereof can lead to poor decisions and vulnerability.

When dealing with a teen struggling with addiction, it is disturbing to walk past your sleeping child's bedroom with concern about whether she is alive. The parental pain and worry associated is ever-present – you don't know if your teen will come home after an evening out or if you will get the dreaded police call to come to a hospital to identify your child's body.

It can be a daily nightmare for families, particularly parents.

Drug addiction remains largely misunderstood.

Painfully, I have heard clean adults, and even adult nicotine addicts such as those who smoke a pack or more of cigarettes a day, make cruel, unthinking statements about teens struggling with the "monster." I ask these nicotine addicts to try to stop smoking. Most have tried and were not successful. With some introspection they might gain insight into illicit drug addiction.

Administering Naloxone is a life saving measure at a dire point.

Other measures are needed to change the course of illicit drug use. These include better access to treatment programs, fully funding and expanding juvenile probation programs, changing societal attitudes toward addiction and reducing stigma, to name just a few.

I sat in a school meeting with a teen struggling with the "monster." Paraphrasing, an administrator told her he has 300 other students to worry about, not her. As a parent, that comment was not welcomed.

There is a book entitled "Change Your Brain; Change Your Life Before 25" by Jesse Payne and Daniel Amen. It is a must read for all school administrators, parents, educators, those who work with kids, and those who care; and most importantly for those young people who daily fight the "monster."

Police administering Naloxone will save lives and is incredibly important.

I applaud Capital BlueCross, our district attorney and our local police.

What comes next is an arduous, painful, complex, ongoing struggle in recovery to support a young person save her life.

Bill Leiner Jr.

Coplay