Thanks, dad, for sharing heart-wrenching story

As a father with three children (two of whom are teenagers), I was very saddened to read: "A grieving father's letter to his daughter who died of a heroin overdose," and extend my deepest sympathies to Gary Fusz and the rest of his family on the loss of his beautiful daughter.

I also commend and thank him for sharing this tragic story in the hopes that perhaps even one person reading it might think twice before taking illicit and dangerous drugs.

My mother was the head night nurse for the drug and alcohol abuse unit at Hines Veterans Hospital for decades when I was growing up and she would relate to me the horror stories of our neglected and forgotten veterans who ended up resorting to drugs to escape the horrors of what they had witnessed in Vietnam only to ruin their lives forever.

She would tell me that even trying mind-altering drugs once in some cases could cause irreparable brain damage beyond the chance of causing a fatal overdose.

Currently, our nation is in a state of crisis where children, young adults, parents, grandparents, pilots, politicians, and many others are falling prey to these spirit-destroying drugs at a devastating cost to our society. Though Alexis's life has ended and her story on Earth completed, her family and friends will suffer from her loss for the rest of their lives.

For those contemplating opioid and other addictive drug use, please consider that the brain is not just a muscle that can be controlled by "will."

Breaking the vicious cycle of addiction is never easy with a high probability of relapse. The brain is the source of our will and when altered by drug use, the will to escape the shackles of addiction is easily destroyed.

Though illicit drugs may offer a temporary respite from life's problems, they will end up bringing a lifetime of anguish to the user and those close to the user.

We as a society must resolve to work together to better inform our children about the dangers of drug use. We need to tell them about those who have succumbed to this horrible scourge of humanity.

Michael Pravica

Henderson, Nevada