Newsday letters to the editor for Monday, Nov. 6, 2017

Trump response on opioids falls short

With upward of 140 Americans each day dying from opioid overdoses, we were painfully aware that the opioid crisis is a public health emergency even before President Donald Trump’s declaration [“Opioid war is ‘winnable,’ ” News, Oct. 28].

Trump said that, “If we can teach young people not to take drugs . . . not to start, it’s really, really easy not to take them.” This shows an unbelievable lack of understanding.

It’s urgent that we more closely regulate Big Pharma, re-educate physicians about pain management techniques that do not require opioids, enact laws and policies that address overprescribing and that monitor both doctors and patients, and pay for medication-assisted treatment when it is proper. There needs to be age-appropriate, evidence-based prevention curricula in every classroom.

And for all of this, there needs to be substantial funding. Nothing less will do.

Judi Vining, Long Beach

Editor’s note: The writer is the executive director of Long Beach Aware, an advocacy group that focuses on substance abuse prevention and mental health.

Suspect should’ve been in lockup

Regarding “Arrest in Md. fatal shootings” [News, Oct. 19], based upon the FBI definition of “mass shooting,” suspected gunman Radee Labeeb Prince fell short by just one fatality. He shot six people, killing three. These deaths are as tragic as any. The gunman easily could have increased the death toll to double digits.

The most troublesome part of this story is that this could have been prevented. Prince is reported to be a felon with 42 arrests. According to federal law, he could not have legally purchased the firearm used to commit the killings. More important, why was a felon who has been arrested 42 times set free to kill and critically injure people?

While politicians who vilify the National Rifle Association are again calling for more laws and bans that only affect lawful gun owners, they have paid too little attention to the flawed criminal justice system that puts felons back on the street. They fail to realize that the sensible gun-control laws they call for already exist in the form of laws that focus on the apprehension, prosecution and lengthy incarceration of real criminals.

Vincent Cristiano, Ronkonkoma

Editor’s note: The writer is a life member of the National Rifle Association.