Rep. Henry Beck, D-Waterville, is the best choice for Senate District 16.

If you are concerned about the opiate crisis, Beck supports policies that have proven to be effective in reducing harm due to use of opiates. He voted for making the overdose-reversing medication naloxone more available. His opponent, Sen. Scott Cyrway, R-Benton, was one of five senators voting to support Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of this life-saving legislation.

Cyrway and LePage seem to think that we need to teach drug addicts a lesson by letting them die. Their heartlessness does not recognize that recovery comes slowly in this terrible disease and often only after many stumbles.

Beck supports both treatment and law enforcement and knows that ultimately treating addiction as a public health problem will reduce new cases and bring healing to current victims. Cyrway is a supporter of the DARE approach, which has been discredited in many studies as actually increasing rates of youth drug and alcohol use.

A more effective approach than trying to scare children with police officers in their schools is to work with parents, who are the most effective with their own children, to give them the tools to model good behavior and to set appropriate limits.

If your concern is to end the opiate crisis in Maine, Beck is your best choice for District 16.

David Doreau

Waterville