‘Just like so many families’: US parents of addicted kids relate to the Reiners – but fear stigma

The challenges of drug and alcohol addiction are familiar, but violence against others is highly unusual, parents say

When news broke that Rob and Michele Singer Reiner had been killed and a possible suspect was their son, Nick Reiner, who had struggled with addiction and mental health issues, it brought addiction back into the public spotlight. But parents who have been affected by their children's addiction fear the conversation will focus on the exceedingly rare act of violence instead of the more widespread risks.

Ron Grover and his wife, Darlene, have been glued to the news. They only knew the Reiners by their work, but they feel a connection: Grover's son also became addicted at 15 to opioids and then heroin, much like Nick Reiner, and he was in and out of rehab and jail for years. But after seven excruciating years, Grover's son got sober in July 2010.