A few years ago, I hired a young man who lived nearby to chainsaw some trees on my property.

He used the money I paid him to buy drugs — and died from a bad batch of fentanyl-laced heroin.

Statistics will tell you he was one of the tens of thousands who have died from opioid addiction — a crisis that has devastated communities for years but is finally showing signs of easing in recent data.

What the statistics can't tell you is that he was smart, talented, and hardworking. He had a strong work ethic and took real pride in what he did. He could have gone to college or mastered any trade. His addiction stole that future.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, many heroin and fentanyl users begin with prescription opioids, such as OxyContin (a morphine-like drug). They obtain them from family or friends or via a doctor's prescription.

In the 1960s, addiction often involved street users in impoverished areas.........

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