Letter to the editor

On a daily basis we are inundated on both the local and national level with news of how the opioid epidemic continues to infiltrate communities across this country. Previously, over-prescription of chronic pain-relieving opioids was believed to be the main cause of this crisis. This lead to state and federal regulations applied to industry and government that have largely controlled the prescription pill abuse issue. However, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, opioid overdose deaths were still 30 percent higher in 2017 than they were in 2016.

Why is the death toll stea...