LIVING WITH ADDICTION

Regarding "Heroin Costs Addict 'Last Chance' " (Metro, Aug. 12):

Your headline should have read "Failed Treatment Program Kills Man."

Treatment programs, jails and prisons will not cure addictions. They may
separate the individual, for a time, from that which he craves but will
cure nothing. Addiction to substances is a learned process that starts at
an early age. The child who behaves well and gets a cookie is not unlike
Pavlov's dog waiting for the bell. Further, addictions can take many forms
- - gambling, sex and risk-taking adventures are but a few - but we tend to
focus the most on illegal drug addictions. In fact, there are far more
fatalities and injuries from the use of legal substances than all illegal
substances combined!

The fact that we spend billions of dollars every year and incarcerate more
citizens than Communist China does should give us a hint that arresting
drug users and abusers isn't working. The real facts are that millions of
people are going to work every day, paying their taxes and using addicting
substances on a regular basis without having to go through treatment or
detox programs. They are able to live long and happy lives without the
government's intrusion. Addiction can be cured only by the individual who
wants to be cured and by funding programs that work.

Michael Palmieri, Zephyrhills

The writer is the former executive director of Florida Organization for
Reformed Marijuana Laws.