Mother’s Day evokes joy for many; it carries a deep and painful significance for me.

I lost my son Eric to an overdose on Nov. 23, 2022, just three weeks shy of his 32nd birthday.

His loss is part of a tragic statistic: about a million lives have been lost over the past decade to overdoses, all preventable deaths.

For far too long, society has responded to substance use disorders with stigma and punishment rather than compassion and understanding.

Harsh drug laws are ineffective, costly and steeped in systemic racism. Criminalization fills our prisons without addressing the root issues faced by those struggling with substance use disorders.

We must advocate for expanded access to evidence-based health strategies that have proven effective in saving lives. This includes making medications for opioid use disorder more widely available, increasing harm reduction services and ensuring that the overdose-reversing drug naloxone is distributed across all communities.

Cara Wykowski,
Oakland

This letter to the editor orginally appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle