In a report released this past July by the Drug Enforcement Administration's Philadelphia field office, we were staggered to find that 3,300 people died from drug overdoses in Pennsylvania last year. This is a nearly 25 percent increase from a year earlier. The way things are going, DEA projections predict that there will be another substantial increase in drug overdose deaths this year.

Beyond the death toll, our prisons are bursting at the seams because 70 to 80 percent of all jail sentences involve illegal drug use or drug-use consequences, and this costs our nation more than $50 billion annually in treatment and lost productivity.Because of this, we are faced with a clear and present danger and crisis requiring our law enforcement, public health agencies and educators to provide drug education and drug treatment.There will be a forum at Panther Valley High School on Oct. 12 to which area legislators have been invited. They and the public will discuss possible steps to combat this scourge. State Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, will hold his annual drug-awareness expo on Oct. 27.Opioids are a class of drugs derived from opiates, an effective painkiller, but they are a significant addiction risk. Some studies show that more than 60 percent of prescription opioid deaths occur in patients with no history of substance abuse and who are only prescribed an opioid by a health care practitioner.With the exception of alcohol, opiate dependence is humanity's oldest, most widespread and most persistent drug problem. By the beginning of the 19th century, opiates were recognized as a universal cure-all.Since heroin has become a fairly inexpensive drug, the addiction problem has taken off exponentially. As younger people experiment with more potent combinations to get loftier highs, overdoses and deaths have climbed significantly.Because of the growing heroin epidemic, state lawmakers are stepping in to address the problem. There are at least seven bills in the state House of Representatives, including one submitted by Heffley. In addition, members of the PA-HOPE (Heroin, Opioid, Prevention and Education) Caucus, and other state officials, health care professionals, addiction experts, survivors and family members of overdose victims participated in a rally last week to urge action on these bills.The epidemic is killing 10 state residents every day, and overdoses have eclipsed car crashes as a leading cause of death in the commonwealth. The legislation would set up ways to deal with the massive issue, including ways to improve prescribing practices, provide better and more specific training for health care professionals and expand access to treatment and enhanced educational methods.Gov. Tom Wolf is expected to address a joint session of the General Assembly to discuss additional efforts Wednesday.While the magnitude of this problem in our area and throughout the state and nation is utterly staggering, we were knocked for a loop when the results of a joint Associated Press and Center for Public Integrity investigation found that the manufacturers of prescription painkillers have adopted a nationwide strategy to weaken measures aimed at reducing the amount of opioids prescribed by medical professions.These drugmakers have spent millions using lobbyists, funding advocacy groups, and, most troubling, making significant contributions to politicians to encourage them not to impose restrictions on this multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical industry. In fact, the industry spent nearly $900 million in the 10-year period ending in 2015 on lobbying and campaign contributions, the investigation found. Worst of all, Pennsylvania has the highest number of these lobbyists - 82 on average each year during the 10-year period.The top donations went to three members of Congress from Pennsylvania, Democrat Sen. Bob Casey, who received $176,250 during the period. Republican Sen. Pat Toomey received $147,167, while Republican Rep. Charlie Dent, received $116,850.Outspoken critics of opioid abuse insist that the drug companies are enjoying enormous profits because of aggressive prescribing, yet it is precisely this overprescribing that has become a disturbing first step in leading people into addiction.On top of that, the prices of some of the key anti-opioid antidotes, such as naloxone, has been skyrocketing as its use has become standard operating procedure with first responders and others on the front lines to try to prevent overdose deaths.Naloxone has the potential to prevent tens of thousands of deaths every year by almost miraculously reversing the effects of opioid-related respiratory distress, but because we live in a business climate where the law of supply and demand prevails, the cost of the brand name of naloxone - Narcan - has shot up more than 4,000 percent since it was first introduced 45 years ago.This price spike is putting pressure on state and local governments to find more money to purchase naloxone kits, which have a shelf life of just 18-24 months. In some cases, incredibly generous donations have come from public-spirited private groups and individuals This helps, but only to a point.Experimentation and new efforts to control heroin addiction are going on in North America. Health Canada, for example, has changed its regulations to allow Canadian doctors to prescribe heroin as a treatment for those who are severely addicted. Not surprisingly, this has sparked much controversy.Similarly, Heffley is the chief sponsor of a bill that would allow physicians to prescribe painkillers in an abuse-deterrent form.We are hopeful that this spotlight on opioid addiction will result in concrete actions to address the damage drug-addiction has inflicted on our society. We urge you to get involved and stay involved. Some of you have seen firsthand what drug addiction can do; to those of you who have so far been immune, we urge vigilance, because the next victim might be one of your beloved family members or friends.By Bruce Frassinelli |

tneditor@tnonline.com