USERS CAN BE TREATED

Judge Ralph Voss' June 17 article, "First, let's test you for drug use,"
was thoughtful and thought-provoking. While there is no way of knowing if
he's right that half the 20- to 40-year-olds in the country use illegal
drugs, there is no question that substance abuse and addiction (including
the abuse and addiction of "legal drugs" such as alcohol) are problems of
epidemic proportions.

What Voss mentions only briefly, however, is that in 23 months as a drug
court judge, he saw people change their lives. I wish he had added that
those changes took place because the court insisted that those individuals
seek treatment. Too few people are aware that substance abuse and addiction
are treatable, and that treatment works.

We need to recognize and insist upon, through funding of publicly supported
programs and by providing appropriate benefits for those with private
insurance, the availability of quality treatment for people who need it.

Bert Emmons

Executive Director

The Exodus Program

Kirkwood