Source: Evening Express (Aberdeen, Scotland) Contact: Tuesday, May 19 1998 METHADONE HAS GIVEN ME NEW LIFE AND HOPE It was with a combination of both amusement and fear that I read the comments of Ms Janice Jess -- 'Heroin addicts being turned into zombies' (Evening Express, May 16). Amusement because this woman is so very wrong. Fear because someone, somewhere may read her ludicrous diatribe and believe it. Methadone is the most prominent treatment for opiate addiction because it is the most effective. I have been on methadone for some time now and the benefits are fantastic. I have a good job, I wear nice, clean clothes and ride an expensive motorcycle. No one would know that I am on methadone save that I tell them. People like Ms. Jess would argue that I am still not opiate free. I have tried, and failed that more times than I can remember. So which is more important, an impossible "cleanliness" or a productive, positive life? The answer is obvious. Lachlan Window Aberdeen. - --- Checked-by: Mike Gogulski