METHADONE CLINICS ARE A BAND-AID

In response to a recent letter ... I am appalled that a counselor and
recovering addict supports methadone clinics as a good thing for
addicts to get involved with in any way, shape or form.

Use of methadone has been shown to reduce crime only because addicts
no longer need to get a "fix" on the streets. All they have to do is
show up and pay for their daily dose of methadone. I listened to a
recovering addict who used heroin for 30 years, went to a meth clinic
to stop using heroin, yet still got high daily on his daily 30 mg dose
of methadone. (It is not uncommon for doses up to 150 mg to be
dispensed. More meth, more money).

Heroin kills. OxyContin kills. Methadone kills. My question to those
who support methadone maintenance is, where is the recovery?

Total abstinence from all drugs is the only way for an addict to
recover from addiction, learn a new way of life and become a
responsible, productive member of society.

Methadone clinics sell (and I emphasize "sell") addicts a highly
addictive narcotic that has horrendous withdrawal symptoms. It allows
owners of the clinics to make millions of dollars. Their profit is
solely dependent upon keeping the addict coming back on a daily basis
for more dope. Methadone clinics are a Band-Aid for the huge problem
of drug addiction, and the addict and society pay the price. The
clinic owners reap the profits. This is not recovery. Society's
illusion that methadone clinics solve the problem of drug addiction
needs to be shattered. There is no recovery in substituting one
addictive drug for another.

Joe Mytro

Beckley