Diverse community group works together and devises plan to address fentanyl crisis | Opinion
Let’s prevent fentanyl deaths
There were 49 confirmed, drug-related deaths in Beaufort County in 2021, the latest numbers available. Of these 49 deaths, 35, or 71% involved the powerful opioid drug fentanyl in some form.
Our local group Crosscurrents, whose goal is to be an example of productive public discourse on difficult public issues, chose to tackle the drug abuse problem to determine whether bipartisan agreement could be reached on recommendations for action in our county.
Given the high levels of overdose deaths being recorded, a consensus emerged that preventing overdose deaths, with particular focus on fentanyl-related deaths, should be the single most important goal.
The group agreed on the following recommendations:
1. Make Narcan (Naxalone) and fentanyl test strips more widely and easily available in the community.
2. Support local programming and information sharing to de-stigmatize drug use and encourage abusers to use community resources.
3. Educate first responders, educators and others likely to interact with users in crisis.
4. Investigate and recommend age-appropriate programs in schools for students and educators to raise awareness of signs of abuse as well as early prevention.
5. Research and recommend mental health resources for prevention, information and counseling.
6. Research supply side laws and penalties and support stiffer penalties.
For further information about how you can join the Crosscurrents initiative to help expand civil public dialogue among persons with diverse views, contact rogbernier@gmail.com.
Roger Bernier, Okatie
Know your audience
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace’s joke fell flat at a recent prayer breakfast hosted by the S.C. Republican Party. In an attempt to appear relevant and relatable, she decided it was appropriate to share her and her fiance’s morning bedroom antics.
This was not only bizarre, but concerning. Firstly, her cheap and crass shot at a joke did not serve its purpose, bringing silence, not laughter, as even she admitted it was TMI (too much information).
No one is interested in what she and her fiancé are doing prior to any meeting, much less a prayer breakfast.
If she doesn’t know her audience at a prayer breakfast, where will she know her audience?
This was Rep. Mace disrespecting and dishonoring her audience, which we know included faithful church leaders, pastors and lay workers.
She has shown us more than once who she is and it is time to start believing her.
More than her joke fell flat. She did.
Jackie Morfesis, Charleston
Preserve Social Security
On Monday, Social Security marks its 88th anniversary.
As a 75-year-old retiree, I want to ensure it remains a benefit for our citizens. I certainly appreciate the benefits I gained from 45 years of employment.
Social Security, created in 1935 after the 2929 stock crash and Great Depression, is based on the concept that individuals contribute to a central fund managed by the government. This fund is used to provide income to individuals when they retire and can no longer work.
Social Security also provides benefits when people become disabled or are survivors of a deceased worker.
Current workers and their employers pay into Social Security through payroll deductions. The payroll deduction is part of the FICA tax.
According to AARP data, nearly 40% of South Carolinians ages 65 and older would be living in poverty were it not for Social Security.
That data also indicates that 21% of individuals 65 and older live in families that rely on this program for at least 90% of their income.
We should all honor and appreciate this significant American program.
Frances Ashe-Goins, Columbia
Man with no country?
I have the perfect solution for the complications surrounding the possible incarceration of former President Donald Trump.
Years ago, I recall reading the Edward Everett Hale short story “The Man Without a Country,” originally published in 1863.
It is the story of an American military officer whose traitorous conduct and hatred of the United States prompted a unique and poignant solution. Rather than sentencing him to prison, he was sentenced to live aboard U.S. Navy ships at sea for the rest of his life.
Year after year, he was to be passed from ship to ship, forever remaining at sea. The ships’ crews were forbidden to discuss anything about the United States with him nor was he permitted to read newspapers or books about the United States.
Only after continuous years of isolation at sea did he come to realize what America really meant, and the grievous error of his ways.
Such would be an appropriate punishment for Donald John Trump and his criminal confederates.
Henry Druckerman, Bluffton
