Re "At Trial, Pain Has a Witness" (Findings, April 24): As a chronic pain sufferer, I know finding a doctor willing to treat pain is nearly impossible due to our government's war on drugs. Prescribing pain medications is a balance between aiding patients and leakage of drugs to illegal markets. It's alarming that our government is controlling how doctors treat patients and prescribe medication. Had a medical board found Dr. William E. Hurwitz's practices "too generous," I'd be willing to accept their finding. But it wasn't doctors that busted the pain specialists, it was bureaucrats. Let's leave pain treatment and care to the medical community. Jesse Alt Baltimore [end]
To the Editor: I was saddened to read of yet another young life lost to drug abuse in the article, "Amid honest admissions, denials, drug-related deaths keep on rising" (Sep. 24). The article mentioned that many arrested in Operation Painkiller were recent high school graduates. No surprise, the young are most likely to abuse drugs. How can we prevent these problems and keep drugs away from kids? The drug war has failed. Nearly 40 years after then President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs, no visible progress has been made unless you count increasing budgets (estimated at $69 billion per year) or increasing prison population (the U.S. now has the highest imprisonment rate in the world). We should legalize and regulate drugs. [continues 72 words]
