HANA MALBASHA,
Madam, - I would like to congratulate Conor Lally on his excellent article "Fighting Drugs with Drugs" (Features, January 20th). He asks: "is it just a State sponsored way of replacing one drug problem with another". The answer is yes.
I am a retired GP who has worked for over 40 years on the North side of the city. All my statements are based on my personal experience and observations. I never joined the methadone program as I felt it was suspect from the beginning. Those who claim that it stabilises addicts so that they no longer have to steal, or that they become better parents, are mistaken. Addicts steal to buy more methadone and to pay a private doctor to get a prescription for Valium. I fully agree with Jim Cumberton and Dr Greg Kelly that a drug-free treatment facility is the only answer.
There is general agreement that addicts should not be put back into the environment where their problem started; that recovery facilities are inadequate and that education and training are the best way to rehabilitate them. These are all clichés which we have heard so often but nobody has actually made any concrete proposals. Although I am not a chairman or medical adviser to anything I propose the following to help addicts to solve this self induced problem.
1. Keep them out of the environment where their problem started. Have them isolated from the community on council land made available for this purpose.
2. Education and training: there is no point teaching them art. Painting pictures does not provide them with the necessary skills to earn their living in the future. Teach them carpentry, plumbing, electrical work and painting houses. This can be done by letting them work on various building projects, such as low-cost housing for those in need.
The finished product will not only raise their self-esteem but also provide them with valuable skills which in due course could be for their own use and benefit - when their level of recovery justifies this. - Yours, etc.,
HANA MALBASHA,
Drumcondra,
Dublin 9.