Most people by now are aware of the human toll from the opoid epidemic sweeping the nation. Yet one often overlooked aspect of the scourge is the danger it poses to children. In Ohio, staff at a Toledo hospital were forced to use 3 doses of a narcotic overdose drug, naloxone, in order to revive a one and a half year old boy who had overdosed on opoids. Assuming his mother is telling the truth, the toddler came upon the drugs in a local park. According to the story given by her older son, the little boy found the bag at a neighborhood park and put it in his mouth. (USA Today, 10-16-2017, p.4A)

It wouldn’t be the first time young children have come across drugs or drug paraphernalia in a park, and it won’t be the last. The situation has gotten so bad in certain parts of the country that schools now must have volunteers canvas football and baseball fields before each game to clean up any needles that were left behind by addicts. A couple days later they’ll have to do the same thing again since junkies will move in again that same night to use drugs.

Parents shouldn’t be so paranoid that they use this as an excuse to keep their kids away from the park. But it wouldn’t hurt to be a little more vigilant.