ADDICTED - TO THE PURSUIT OF PLEASURE

I found the article on the "miracle" drug Naltrexone ("Constant craving",
Herald, May 15) most interesting. What it said was that this splendid drug
CAN cure heroin addiction, but it, in the end, will fail to do so.

This, in my opinion, is the NEAREST thing I have heard that points to the
real answer to the drug problem.

The media is full of discussions on "what can be done for the addicts", but
I have never heard anyone who clearly raised the real issue.

And the real issue, as yout article hinted, was that the addict, once cured,
often returns to drug use. Why? As the article hinted, it was that the
addict becomes an addict because he sees nothing more satisfying in life
than the kicks the drug brings.

But before we blame him for that, it needs to be stated that that is the
philosophy of life which much of the media as a whole is presenting as the
vital ingredient of real life. It continually implies the most important
factor in life is to get what you want, and pleasure, however shallow, is
the real essence of life.

Rarely is there any suggestion of responsibility to community, to family, to
wife or children; rarely any reference to the restraints that are vital for
the fulfilling of these obligations; rarely any acknowledgment of the real
satisfaction, the real joy, of giving one's life to serve those who need our
love, those in need, in pain; in helping those who are the victims of
circumstances and the greed of others.

While sections of the arts world go on pushing the shallow philosophy that
the main thing in life is to get what you want, to satisfy yourself above
all else, and others promote the philosophy that this means giving oneself
over to sensuality, there will be no answer to the problem of drugs.

Fortunately many of the common people are turning away from these shallow
philosophies and seeking real meaning in life.

W. C. Watterson, Wyoming, May 18.