Grieving Dad Writes Letter After Son Dies : “When you look at this picture, do you see a junkie?”

by Scott McKay | April 27, 2016 1:09 am

America is in trouble. A recent study surfaced showing that suicide rates among white people in this country are skyrocketing and, in a perverse bit of egalitarianism, life expectancy rates between blacks and whites are evening out – because white life expectancy is coming down.

And the suicide rate doesn’t count what Americans of all races are doing to themselves with alcohol and drugs, the abuse of which is at alarming highs.

Things are so bad that it isn’t just marijuana and cocaine. It’s crystal meth and, most astonishingly, heroin.

What heroin is doing to young people in the Northeast in particular is devastating, and here is a human face on the problem[1]…

From the Daily Mail:

A Massachusetts family have shared an important message about substance use after their son died of a heroin overdose.

College sophomore Emmett Scannell, 20, of Bridgewater, died on April 20 after overdosing on heroin.

His father, William Scannell, shared a photo of his son and obituary on Facebook along with a message in which he stressed that substance abuse can take over anyone, no matter who they are.

‘When you look at his picture, do you see his innocence?’ William Scannell asks in his Facebook post. ‘When you look at his picture, do you see an athlete, scholar, writer, inventor, musician, straight “A” student, or maybe even someone your daughter could date?

‘When you look at his face in this picture, doesn’t it scream happiness??? When you look at this picture, do you not see a future success story? Ya, I see all of these things too when I look at this picture but let me ask you this question…

‘When you look at this picture, do you see a “junkie”?? Do you see a desperate young man that is addicted to heroin???? Do you see someone that is so sad or depressed or who has become a prisoner of his own life??’

Emmett was a National Honor Society student in high school who went on to study computer science at Worcester State University, where he had a full academic scholarship.

When he went to college in August 2014, he had been in recovery and sober in Alcoholics Anonymous for two years.

‘Within 6 weeks, heroin came into his and our lives, stole him from us and Substance Use Disorder killed him in only 18 months,’ his family wrote in his obituary.

No family should lose a son to something so stupid, so pointless as a heroin overdose.

There should be national leadership aimed at trying to put a damper on this epidemic. People made fun of Nancy Reagan when she exhorted Americans to “Just Say No” back in the 1980’s, but that message ultimately played a part in slowing down the country’s binge on marijuana and cocaine. That drug abuse was far less life-threatening than today’s high-stakes recklessness and yet there is little or nothing being done to inspire kids to stay clean.

It’s a failure of leadership. You can blame your president for this; it’s part of his legacy.