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The war to end opioid crisis is a long-term struggle

Sheriffs from six counties in central Pennsylvania got together recently for a panel discussion hosted by the Susquehanna Valley Conservatives. A naturally tight-knit group, the sheriffs are even more in step with each other when it comes to their biggest daily concern.

That would be the region’s opioid epidemic, which they say they are dealing with on a variety of levels with a variety of methods. K9 units with drug-sniffing dogs are becoming a common crimefighting element in some of the counties.

Many of those dogs are funded by communitydonations and, realistically, that money well is not bottomless.

Also not without a limit is the public funding of various drug-fighting programs in the region, including Project Bald Eagle.

Gov. Wolf has been very positive in preliminary budget talks with promises that the state will monetarily support the fight to stop the opioid epidemic, which was encouraging news to Steve Shope, Project Bald Eagle director.

The state’s help is welcome, particularly on a legislative level, where naloxone, a drug used to reverse the effects of opioid overdoses, was made available to law enforcement agencies. But that money is coming from a state with deep fiscal struggles. The same is true of money coming from county and local governments.

The real solutions are much more complex. They have to do with education that leads to less temptation to get involved with opioids in the first place. That leads to less addiction, which leads to less crime, which leads to less recidivism, which leads to less pressure on our families, our communities, our law enforcement, courts and prisons.

That’s the long-term war that must be won.

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