Hatboro Native Writes About Opioids In NYT

HATBORO, PA — A 28-year-old Hatboro native has written a New York Times column reflecting on a friend's death and the toll that the opioid epidemic continues to take in the borough.

"In My Hometown, Opioids Are Still Stealing Lives," was published Wednesday. It was written by Shawn McCreesh, an editorial assistant at the Times.

"At 28, I’m of Generation Opioid," McCreesh writes. "During high school, prescription pills were as easy to abuse as a learner’s permit. Our reunions take place coffin-side and often."

He writes about a good friend dying in Hatboro last year and the five mothers who gathered to mourn his death — all of whom had lost a child in similar fashion. The pastor who presided at the funeral was, himself, a recovering addict and, immediately after the funeral, his sister got texts saying another friend had overdosed, McCreesh wrote.

"By the time I graduated from high school, 10 years ago, opiates were everywhere," he wrote. "Percocet and Vicodin became a regular presence at parties. Mixed with booze and some weed, pills were a new way to kick a Saturday night up a notch. Teenagers eager to get their paws on something stronger had no trouble finding OxyContin."

Read the column in the New York Times here.