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In response please allow me to point out that the Oxford Dictionary defines epidemic as:

"a sudden outbreak of infectious disease that spreads rapidly through the population".

There is no “opiate epidemic.” Opiates are NOT AN INFECTION. There was an AIDS epidemic, there was an Ebola epidemic, and there was a SARS epidemic. But there’s no opiate epidemic; rather what we do have is crime, also defined by Oxford as: "an action or omission which constitutes an offense and is punishable by law." Therein lies a big difference; opiate users are breaking the law, consuming illegally obtained drugs, and that's the difference between a crime and an epidemic.

If stupidity was a medical disease, then we would have an epidemic.

And despite Ms. Coletta's well intended remarks and admirable approach, every one of those 60,000 U.S. deaths in 2016 from opiate over-dose were criminals. Drug addiction is not a crime which society can prevent; only the addicts themselves can stop this crime. Society has enough other medical problems to treat; as Kent CEO and hospital president, Ms. Coletta must know addicts should not be treated as a medical problem, with medical resources.

It's a crime, and should be treated with judicial and law enforcement resources.