KEEPING ADDICTS ALIVE IS BIG STEP TOWARD RECOVERY

I applaud Dr. Peter L. Beilenson, Baltimore's health commissioner, and Dr.
Robert Schwartz of the Open Society Institute for their efforts at saving
lives and obtaining funding and treatment on behalf of the many addicts in
Baltimore ("City overdose deaths fell by 12% last year," March 28).

As a substance abuse treatment provider and recovering addict-alcoholic, I
know the bureaucratic hoops that one must jump through to get motivated
addicts into treatment.

Yet through the efforts of these doctors and many people behind the scenes,
the epidemic of drug abuse and the damage it does has at least been lessened.

However, I was disturbed by comments from Michael W. Gimbel, a former
heroin addict who is now director of substance abuse education at Sheppard
Pratt Health System. His assertion that "Narcan ... is not the best way to
get addicts clean and sober" totally misses the point of this intervention.

Narcan is used to temporarily block the effects of heroin, which has a
major side effect of respiratory depression that can lead to respiratory
arrest and death.

The goal of this intervention is to keep the person alive, because, as I
hope Mr. Gimbel will agree, no addict can get clean and sober if he or she
is dead.

Mr. Gimbel also spoke of wishing that "those people" would "get trained in
how to seek a job and go back to school." It is unclear to whom Mr. Gimbel
was referring, but this degrading remark assumes that the providers of this
lifesaving intervention or the people they are helping are jobless and
without education.

I hope that the effort of the Staying Alive initiative continues to help
addicts live, recover and remember where they came from in an effort to
help those who still suffer.

Kurt Haspert, Catonsville