Drug abuse is overwhelming the child welfare system at unprecedented rates. Solutions are slowly emerging.
By J.B. Wogan | Governing
Police in East Liverpool, Ohio, last fall wanted to show the graphic toll of opioid overdoses, so they made the decision to post some photos to Facebook. The shocking images, which an officer had taken during a traffic stop, were graphic and heart-wrenchingly poignant. A man and a woman sit unconscious in the front seat of an SUV, slumped at impossible angles, mouths agape. Meanwhile, a 4-year-old blond child — the woman’s grandson — stares from the back seat.
The controversial photos went viral, and have now been seen by millions. Some people praised the police for drawing attention to the problem of opioid abuse; others lambasted the city for sensationalizing the crisis and attempting to publicly shame drug addicts. “We feel we need to be a voice for the children caught up in this horrible mess,” the city wrote in the post accompanying the images. “This child can’t speak for himself, but we are hopeful his story can convince another user to think twice about injecting this poison while having a child in their custody.”
