Back in June I wrote a blog post about a Detox/Rehab center coming to a nearby town. How many area residents are unhappy about it, and debunked their reasoning.

Yesterday the City of Greenfield signed an agreement with the Rehab/Detox center to use the abandoned Lunt facility as a new site. The townspeople are apoplectic about it. They see their property values declining and crime soaring. No amount of convincing will make these townspeople see that this rehab center fills a need. Kicking addiction takes a village, but addicts need a ticket into that village, and they are few and far between – and very very costly. We in Franklin County are at the center of the problem, therefore we need to be at the center of the solution.

A need so insidious that there is a reason this section of New England is called The Heroin Highway. A need that runs so deep,  it is killing our young children at an alarming rate.  These are not throw away people, they are human beings. People who made mistakes,  daughter’s and sons, grandchildren, best friends, even moms and dads. This has to stop, and although this center can’t fix all of the mess. It can make a dent in the problem.

So it is time for everyone to understand the problem is in Your Backyard, therefore the solution needs to be there as well.