HEROIN ADDICTION IS AN ILLNESS

I READ "Sick kids before addicts" (Herald Sun, May 2). I too am deeply moved
at the sight of so many children, like my son, suffering life-threatening
conditions with little funding available to assist.

My son is a heroin addict. He, and others suffering the same illness,
deserve a chance at life.

The government has been too slow in providing funding for these sick
children. If my son suffered a more socially acceptable illness, the public
would have reached into its pockets long ago.

You have time to write to newspaper columns, but obviously no time to read
the facts on heroin addiction publicised in the same newspaper.

It's time you got your priorities right -- everyone deserves equal rights to
medical research and treatment.

No one chooses to become an addict. I hope this terrible illness never
touches your family as it has mine.

Name supplied, Cranbourne