OPIATES' AVAILABILITY

Regarding your March 12 story "Methadone deaths stun teens' parents":
Teenagers rummaging through medicine cabinets looking for a high have
no clue how extensive and horrible the fallout from their stupidity
can be -- aside from the obvious tragedy of their deaths.

Perhaps one reason methadone is now the leading overdose killer is
because OxyContin got so much publicity as a "bad" drug. As one
opiate medication is demonized, it seems another -- maybe even worse
- -- takes its place. I hope this story is taken as a lesson by young
people as well as those wishing to vilify opiates: it backfires.

Opiates are without question the most effective painkillers known to
man. People suffering from pain must remain able to access these
medications or society fails us cruelly. Doctors must not be punished
for attempting to ease our pain.

It is foolish to look for a "high" in another person's medicine
bottle. You can get yourself killed, but you are also directly
stealing a suffering person's relief, and that is unconscionable.
Furthermore, you are damaging everyone's future ability to obtain
pain relief, including your own -- assuming you survive trying to get a buzz.

Agatha T. Shilling

Apex