Letters to the Editor | March 21, 2024

I am a pediatrician and work for St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Many of our families live in the neighborhoods that were most severely traumatized by the opioid epidemic. Almost 200 of the 1,400 people who died from a drug overdose in 2022 lived in our 19134 zip code. We meet and collaborate with these families every day. This includes children in our emergency room who have accidentally ingested opioids and babies born to parents struggling with substance use disorder.

Prevention Point has become a tremendous source of support to us. Working in the community, it understands much better than we can what people need and what role we can play in providing support. It has generously offered its expertise and trained many health-care workers at St. Christopher’s on the use of Narcan. It has also advised us on how to screen and provide needed social and mental health resources for our families. I only see a small part of the extraordinary work Prevention Point does every day. I am thankful for its presence in Kensington and its informed guidance on how we can contribute to reducing the harm inflicted on our families.

Jeremiah Goldstein, Philadelphia

Gwen Synder’s op-ed takes us older Democrats (I’m an 81-year-old Rendell Democrat) to task for not supporting young Democrats on “their” issues, such as student debt and climate change. In fact, we do, but perhaps not to the extreme that Synder would like, and not to the exclusion of other democratic values like ensuring young working families can afford a decent life and that young people — including those in our more rural areas — can find sustainable jobs. If Synder and her friends do not support these values and the Democratic Party, they will have to look to the MAGA party to support their issues. Good luck with that.

Jim Ginty, Philadelphia

In laudable editorials, columns, and daily reporting, The Inquirer has warned its readers about the chaos and suffering that would result from a Donald Trump victory in November. But who is thinking about the consequences if he loses? Trump said at a recent rally that if he loses, “it will be a bloodbath for the country” (though he then claimed he didn’t mean it). He has lauded the convicted insurrectionists of Jan. 6, 2021, as heroes and patriots who should be pardoned. With months of incitement still to come, isn’t it time for the country to prepare for a substantial civil uprising in November?

Trump’s followers have been convinced of their victimhood and have been told to anticipate cheating in the next election. They have millions of guns, and there is every reason to believe that if Trump loses, there is a real threat of civil war. Isn’t it time for President Joe Biden to instruct the Joint Chiefs of Staff to prepare plans to protect America from internal attack? Isn’t there the potential for every blue state capital, and, of course, Washington, D.C., to become America’s next Fort Sumter? It is terribly sad to think this way. But I believe we must prepare for the worst.

Francis W. Hoeber, Philadelphia

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