Substance abuse is a national issue but felt direct and personal here.

Nighty news, my Seattle times, and last night on NPR have all spoken out about this direction of our loved ones. Each community struggles with which path, incarnation and punitive or a health issue with rehab. On NPR was a retelling of a prosecutor who was very focused on protecting the grater society. He in the arch of his life came to adopt a child from an addict and came to know the mother. The systems in place are not up to the challenge or underfunded or are not comprehensive enough. A biblical quote was sited. Jesus is asked how many times do we forgive a sinner 7 times or 70 times. The answer is both and really more than the multiplication of 490. The often sited beginning was a prescription pain killer but that did not stop. Most dealers are in fact just users and were once our family members. No easy answers here and tremendously expensive to remedy. But the status quo is also expensive both in material and lives wasted as well as the family members who struggle to deal. We are a collection of states, federal, county, and cities all dealing with the same issue. Some will be the mistakes and some will be the role model. Sorry if this is more political than grief oriented. There was one community that created a forum to connect the affected family members into a community. Like here in numbers, we grasp the scope and impact of our collective grief. I hope not to intrude but just to comment on this type of loss is large and not isolated.