CAN'T THIS 'VALLEY WITH A HEART' LEND A HAND?

It is appalling that after about a decade of trying it still has not been
possible to find a municipality or a neighborhood in the area that is
willing to make room for a methadone clinic.

It is a case of NIMBY - Not In My Back Yard - at its worst.

Many fear that because the clinic would treat those who are addicted
primarily to heroin, that it would attract only "bad" people. But these are
brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, neighbors and residents of the
area, and there are many of them.

Look at some of the clues. Just three weeks ago police in one community
arrested eleven people, charging them with dealing in drugs. A few days
later, police in another community arrested another 10 people on the same
charge. It is suspected that some, perhaps all of them, are themselves
addicted and rely on the sale of drugs to help them pay for satisfying their
own habit.

Several years ago, I visited the police headquarters where I was shown an
album. There were pages and pages with a number of photographs on each page
of people who had been arrested. I was told that for the most part they came
from the Caribbean islands, had gone to New York City, where they were
recruited to work as couriers for drug dealers. Each would be given a supply
of drugs and an address in this area to deliver the goods. Once there, they
would pick up the money for the drugs and drive back to New York where they
were paid a commission that generally amounted to more than they could earn
in several months of normal work in the city. The pages of photographs were
of couriers who had been arrested, but it is apparent that for each arrest
many others completed their missions successfully.

These examples indicate that there are many more consumers in this area than
there are dealers or couriers. But some of the addicted here in our
community are desperate for freedom.

Methadone could be a first step for them to that end. It isn't a cure, but
it satisfies the craving for heroin, and frees the individual to follow a
normal life. More important, it gives them an opportunity to regain
self-control, self-respect as they attempt to overcome their addiction.

Any of us who have been subjected to a relatively minor addiction -
cigarettes, for example - recognize that not everyone can quit "cold
turkey." Some find it impossible to break the habit at all. Most succeed
only after a long, agonizing period of climbing up and falling down, and
then climbing up again before they escape from the morass. And even then,
there are palliatives that ease that first step. For those on hard drugs,
methadone is an essential first step. Presently the only place they can find
that service is in the Lehigh Valley, in Allentown. But there are those who
cannot afford to make that trip, let alone to make it on the regular basis
that is necessary. Those who can't afford the trip often do not get help.

For our own people who are in agonizing trouble, who are in a kind of
walking hell, addiction leads them to do anything - anything - to get the
means of satisfying their habit. They are the people who have made the
mistake of thinking they could enjoy a moment of ecstasy, without getting
"hooked." The disaster for them is that once they had discovered their
mistake, it is too late. And who hasn't made a mistake? Maybe not as great,
but can't we forgive and help? If we say Not In My Back Yard, the truth is,
the problem is in our back yard. Indeed, it's in the front yard, if we will
just open our eyes.

Such a clinic should be easily accessible, served by public transportation
facilities, within easy walking distance for many, with adequate parking
space for others, and where the individual can be free of harassment and
censure. Remember, they are trying desperately to come back.

If we believe what we preach, if we accept the teachings of our religions,
if we accept simple morality and the dictates of ethics, we must offer them
a helping hand. That's the very least that the methadone clinic can do.
After all, this is the "Valley with a Heart" - isn't it?