We are lucky to live in a community where local officials seem to truly care about our well-being. The great work of the Opioid Task Force, as well as Franklin County Sheriff Christopher Donelan’s adoption of medication assisted treatment at our jail are evidence of this.
It was thus disappointing to see Northampton District Attorney David Sullivan pointing blame toward Holyoke and Fitchburg, places both poorer and more racially diverse that Franklin County, as the “main sources” of our local opioid crisis in the Recorder article, “Data shows local opioid deaths soaring amid pandemic.” This read like the same illogical and racist “war on drugs” thinking that got us into this mess in the first place.
We should hope that after the Sackler family scandal that law enforcement officials like Sullivan are finally ready to target the actual suppliers and financiers of illicit drug trades (i.e. the wealthy white people), not just the poor folks of color who are often compelled to participate solely from a lack of legitimate options for economic survival. Decades worth of data from every social-scientific field of study has proven that the War on Drugs failed us all gravely, it’s time for our public officials to move on fully in both rhetoric and resources. We expect better in our progressive community.
Joshua Freund
Montague