Pubdate: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 Source: News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) Copyright: 2006 The News and Observer Publishing Company Contact: https://miva.nando.com/contact-us/letter-editor.html Website: http://www.news-observer.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304 Author: Agatha T. Shilling Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone) OPIATES' AVAILABILITY Regarding your March 12 story "Methadone deaths stun teens' parents": Teenagers rummaging through medicine cabinets looking for a high have no clue how extensive and horrible the fallout from their stupidity can be -- aside from the obvious tragedy of their deaths. Perhaps one reason methadone is now the leading overdose killer is because OxyContin got so much publicity as a "bad" drug. As one opiate medication is demonized, it seems another -- maybe even worse - -- takes its place. I hope this story is taken as a lesson by young people as well as those wishing to vilify opiates: it backfires. Opiates are without question the most effective painkillers known to man. People suffering from pain must remain able to access these medications or society fails us cruelly. Doctors must not be punished for attempting to ease our pain. It is foolish to look for a "high" in another person's medicine bottle. You can get yourself killed, but you are also directly stealing a suffering person's relief, and that is unconscionable. Furthermore, you are damaging everyone's future ability to obtain pain relief, including your own -- assuming you survive trying to get a buzz. Agatha T. Shilling Apex - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman