We Can’t Keep Reacting After the Fact
Previously Published in The Messenger
The sirens in Coram were familiar. But what happened last week should shake us all.
Three men are dead. A fourth person is recovering in the hospital. Police say they all likely thought they were using crack cocaine. What they got instead was fentanyl—an ultra-potent synthetic opioid that now claims the lives of nearly 200 Americans every day.
This was not a crime story. It was a community story. And like too many before it, it ended with body bags instead of second chances.
In recent years, Suffolk County has seen too much of this. Fentanyl-laced street drugs aren’t just hitting traditional opioid users. They’re showing up in substances many people think are less dangerous—cocaine, counterfeit pills, even marijuana. That’s what makes it all the more lethal. One bad decision, one tainted bag, and a life is over.
And it’s not just happening in shadows or back alleys. It’s in our neighborhoods, at our parks, near our schools. The opioid epidemic no longer has a predictable face. It could be your friend. Your neighbor. Your child.
We can’t keep acting surprised. We’ve known this was coming. We’ve already buried too many people who didn’t fit the usual profile.
Law enforcement continues to do its job and then some. Detectives in the Suffolk County Police Department’s Narcotics and Homicide sections responded immediately, working to trace the source of the drugs. The department’s Medical Crisis Action Team, trained in overdose response, was on the ground within hours. Their work is not the problem, and they cannot be expected to solve this alone.
This crisis is bigger than any one department or agency. It’s a public health emergency. And it needs to be treated like one.
Right now, we have tools that save lives—Narcan, fentanyl test strips, recovery programs—but we’re still not getting them in the hands of enough people, fast enough. A few pharmacies carry naloxone. Some schools stock it. But what about corner stores? What about town halls and community centers? What about reaching people before the moment everything goes wrong?
This isn’t a matter of politics or posturing. It’s a matter of will.
Suffolk County is expected to receive millions in opioid settlement funds. Residents deserve transparency on where that money is going and what impact it’s having. We need more than just press releases and ribbon cuttings. We need proof of progress. Lives depend on it.
Make no mistake, stopping the spread of fentanyl isn’t just about compassion. It’s about responsibility—to the families who’ve already lost someone and to the ones who haven’t yet.
The Messenger Papers believes in local accountability, smart law enforcement, and community-driven solutions. But we also believe this: we cannot enforce our way out of a crisis that’s evolving faster than our playbook.
Fentanyl isn’t waiting for us to get it right. It’s already here.
Let’s act like it.
— The Messenger Papers Editorial Board