COMING CLEAN ON HIS ADDICTION

As a recovering addict I thoroughly relate to the misery that is drug
addiction, but it angers me that there is still so much ignorance and
stigma surrounding this disease. When I read conservative Gary Bauer's
quote that from "a moral standpoint, there's a difference between
people who go out and seek a high and get addicted and the millions of
Americans dealing with pain who inadvertently get addicted," I wanted
to scream. There is no distinction between Rush Limbaugh and any other
drug addict. Addiction in any form is not a moral issue, it is a
disease, and people like Bauer need to understand this. Millions of
people have suffered from cancer, and we have come together as a
nation to fight it and understand it. It's time that we also stood up
to fight and understand the disease of addiction.

Alicia Haller

Everett, Wash.