Needle Point

“When a loved one overdoses, it may be easier for family and friends to think of her as prey than to accept the more complex reality of addiction. And for detectives—who, in conventional homicide cases, often work tirelessly to provide “closure” to grieving families—it can be motivating to reimagine a tragic accident as a crime scene, with a victim and a perpetrator. Dennis Cauchon, the president of Harm Reduction Ohio, a nonprofit that opposes overdose-homicide laws, recalls hearing a prosecutor say at a conference, “When parents ask us to do something, it’s hard to say no.” Paige Williams in The New Yorker: The Wrong Way to Fight the Opioid Crisis. “People struggling with addiction who share a lethal dose of drugs are being prosecuted as killers.”