EVERY JUNKIE'S LIKE A SETTING SUN

In your April 26 article on the death of Layne Staley, front man from the
band, Alice in Chains, you seemed shocked that no one found Layne for two
weeks after his death from an overdose of heroin and cocaine.

I am writing this in the hope that it will show America's youth that heroin
addiction has been around for a long time, and many thousands of junkies
die every year from overdosing on this powerful drug. Unless they are
"famous," these dead junkies end up faceless statistics. No one cares other
than their immediate loved ones, and then sometimes even "famous" people
such as Layne have burned enough personal bridges, wasted the time of
enough family and friends and counselors, etc., that after many treatment
programs and emergency trauma responses, are left alone finally to sit in
some dark apartment to shoot up that last big spoon of heroin and die alone.

I, over the years, have lost friends and favorite musicians to this killer
drug. Neil Young said it well in his song, "The needle and the damage done"
years ago. Recovery is there if we want it. Otherwise, there is no other
end than dying alone. Very tragic indeed.

Greg Hanks,

Appleton