Editor’s note: These letters to the editor were published only online. To send a letter to the editor, visit toledoblade.com/letterstoeditor.

Handicap spaces are for handicapped

I go to El Camino Real on Wednesday evenings, which is bike night. My question is this: Every Wednesday they fill the handicap parking spaces with motorcycles, leaving no handicap spaces for those individuals who need it. How can they do this?

TOM SILVEOUS

Swanton

Replacement therapy not long-term addiction solution

There is much debate as to the effectiveness of drug replacement therapy for individuals who suffer from narcotic addictions.

Since around 2000, the incidence of heroin addiction has skyrocketed. Prior to 2010, addiction issues were dealt with as a legal issue. Since most people use to the point of complete failure, they generally do not stop until something catastrophic happens. That usually means death or jail.

At the very least, by the time an addict comes to the realization that he cannot deal with his addiction on his own, he usually does not have money, does not have a job, and does not have insurance. So the chance of getting meaningful treatment at that time is fairly slim. That has changed, but when I was seeking sobriety, that is how it was.

I was in 44 detox centers and psychiatric facilities over a six-year period. Each time I went into one of those places, I went in with a sincere desire to end the madness, but 43 times I failed miserably. My sobriety was measured in hours. I thought it was weakness on my part, but I now know differently. You see, at the very best, I could get five to 10 days of detox and then right back out the door, back to where I came from. Generally speaking, that just will not do it.

Drug replacement therapy, new at the time, was something that was for people of means. I commend everyone who has come together to deal with the heroin epidemic. And it is an epidemic. Now, I do not have a medical degree, and I am not a chemist, but what I do have is a vast ocean of knowledge because of 40 years of drug use. The big thing today is drug replacement therapy. Suboxone, Subutex, and my all-time favorite, methadone.

Drug replacement therapy is just that, replacing an illicit drug for a legal one. So, for me, I had to get real and ask myself what it was that I really wanted. I think short-term use of drug replacement therapy is a very good thing but if it’s been six months, or even three months, and you are still using replacement drugs, you are getting high. I know a lot of folks will disagree with what I’ve said, but that is their opinion, and that all right too.

ROBERT PEACE

Terrace Downs

First Published June 5, 2017, 8:22 p.m.