Series: Wasted Youth

SCORES OF READERS SHARE STORIES ABOUT HOW DRUGS TOUCHED THEIR LIVES
AND HOW THEY PLAN TO FIGHT BACK

We knew there was a problem locally with OxyContin and heroin
addiction -- the numbers told us so.

But how deep did it go, and who was affected? The families of the
fallen told us that.

During the past year, often through a veil of tears, those who have
lost loved ones -- and those who live every day in fear of losing
them -- shared their pain.

The wound goes deep, we learned -- and we're learning more each day
in the wake of our four-day "Wasted Youth" series, which examined the
toll that opiate addiction has taken on this region.

People are hurting -- and want help.

Since our series ran last week, we've learned from local school
nurses that they lack the resources and information to properly
prepare children.

We've learned from emergency room doctors -- as far away as Boston --
that overdose victims are being left at their ER doorsteps, clinging
to their young lives.

We've learned from parents of the deceased how little has been done
by both lawmakers and law-enforcers to find their child's killer.

We've learned from siblings and aunts and friends how much suffering
there has been.

We've learned all of this because people are raising their voices
like never before, seeking action, demanding justice.

More than 100 have done so by writing and e-mailing us since our
series ran, and on today's Editorial pages we provide a sampling of
what they are saying.

People are crying, we've learned, and will be for some time. But now,
people are also crying out -- for recognition of the problem, and
action by those who have seen it for years but done nothing.

People in this region are in pain, and always will be to some extent.

But make no mistake -- they are wiping away the tears and fixing
their eyes on what needs to be done, who needs to do it.

And -- as they clean their child's gravestone or raise their orphaned
grandson -- they are reminding us why.