Parents Whose Children Died of Heroin Overdose Call for Changes in Approach

As the demographics of heroin use continue to shift, a growing number of families whose children died of heroin overdoses are calling for a change in approach to addressing the crisis, according to The New York Times.

Heroin use previously was centered in poor, predominantly black urban areas, the article notes. Today, heroin use has jumped among whites, many of them living in the suburbs and small towns.

“Because the demographic of people affected are more white, more middle class, these are parents who are empowered,” said Michael Botticelli, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. “They know how to call a legislator, they know how to get angry with their insurance company, they know how to advocate. They have been so instrumental in changing the conversation.”

Parents are lobbying statehouses, starting nonprofit organizations and holding rallies, in an effort to put treatment before punishment. Their voice is being heard. Two weeks ago, President Obama visited West Virginia, a state ravaged by one of the deadliest epidemics in the nation, to talk with leaders and listen to parents who have lost, or who have nearly lost, children to addiction. He discussed his proposal to increase access for drug treatment and prevention programs.

The Justice Department is releasing about 6,000 inmates from federal prisons, as part of an initiative to roll back severe punishments issued to nonviolent drug offenders. And police departments around the country are starting programs based on one created in Gloucester, Massachusetts earlier this year that provides treatment for people who come to the police station with illegal drugs and paraphernalia, instead of arresting them.

Parents have been lobbying statehouses to expand access for the drug-overdose antidote naloxone. Parents were also instrumental in the UNITE to Face Addiction rally last month in Washington, D.C.