Drug addiction is nothing less than an epidemic. And we all suffer from it — it’s a safe assumption that everyone in our community has been touched in some way by the ravages of drug abuse and addiction. Because the effects are so widespread, there’s little use in trying to cover up a stigma that afflicts virtually everyone.

That appeared to be the main message Saturday morning when dozens of people walked through the city to raise awareness of the fight against drugs in Butler County.

Hope for Broken Hearts, a drug rehabilitation support group, organized the Walk of Hope to let everyone know there is help for individuals battling addiction.

Hope for Broken Hearts, which meets Tuesdays at Mount Chestnut Presbyterian Church in Franklin Township, was spreading the message that a little help from sympathetic friends can go a long way on the path to recovery.

“People need to know there are others in the same boat,” said one organizer named Charlene. The group does not identify each other by last names due to its anonymous nature. “We want to encourage anyone going through this to come to our meeting, or go to another support group. It’s hard to deal with it by yourself.”

The idea is for those who have kicked the habit to show addicts how they did it — and to lend encouragement and advice along the way. It’s not a new concept — Alcoholics Anonymous and spinoff groups have employed this strategy for years because it works.

Attempts to raise awareness and sympathy for addicts should not be interpreted as a call for lenient law enforcement. Clearly, drug abuse is a serious crime. Law enforcement must never ease up on prosecution of drug crimes, especially in cases involving drug dealers. Bad behavior has consequences, as it should.

But that doesn’t mean criminal arrest and prosecution should be the only way out of addiction. Those who are willing to fight addiction voluntarily should be given every opportunity.

A smattering of local elected officials participated in Saturday’s walk, including City Council members Kathy Kline and Cheri Readie and Butler School Board member Bill Halle. Church pastors helped organize the walk.

Good for them. The presence of leaders, both civic and spiritual, sends the message that more needs to be done by and within the community to curb this affliction. And when the leaders step up, they expect the people they lead and represent will step up with them.

Halle said it best: “People should look to make a difference any way they can,” he said. “Whether that’s through prayer, through services, or whatever. When we pull together as a community a difference can be made.”