LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Baltimore Sun

Heroin medication good news for city

As a primary care and public health physician who has managed buprenorphine patients, I would like to reinforce the good news in The Sun's article about Baltimore's buprenorphine initiative ("Program for heroin addicts is lauded," July 19).

Before buprenorphine, most physicians had no effective medications for the treatment of opioid-dependent patients in our own offices.

Because, by federal law, methadone can be prescribed for addiction treatment only in a licensed treatment facility, referral to a methadone maintenance program was essentially the only medication-based option. Patient care was fragmented, if it continued at all.

Methadone treatment, while certainly effective, requires daily program attendance so that the patient may take the medication under supervision. And if it is obtained by a child or non-user, methadone can be harmful or fatal.

Buprenorphine is safe, it is easy to prescribe, and it can improve continuity of care and thus the overall health of patients when prescribed in a primary care physician's office.

The article cited a slightly reduced 90-day treatment retention rate for the city's buprenorphine patients compared with the "typical methadone patient."

However, when one factors in buprenorphine's benefits for patients and physicians, the dismal retention rates of non-medication treatment programs and the fact that buprenorphine offers better access to treatment, it's clear that this early, possible difference in retention rates should not detract from the city's efforts to promote use of buprenorphine.

Dr. Cynthia M. Lipsitz

Catonsville

The writer is a former medical director for the Howard County Health Department.

Coverage of crime promotes apathy

Along with The Sun's commitment to keep the public up to date on Baltimore's murder count, and compare the city's level of violence with the level in other cities, it would be beneficial if The Sun also ran articles on campaigns launched by the city, community-based organizations, foundations and others to prevent violence and make our communities less deadly.

Currently, The Sun's coverage of crime in Baltimore seems to emphasize reiterating the problem - which admittedly is urgent - with little mention of efforts to work on solutions.

If the public is faced with problems for which it cannot find immediate answers and feels devastated by the severity of the situation and powerless to respond, it often becomes inactive, pessimistic or even apathetic.

More information about efforts to solve the city's violence problem (and there are many) would give the public an opportunity to contribute to, support or become involved in such efforts.

Noni Faruq

Baltimore

Summit of the weak provides little hope

While everyone would like to see President Bush succeed in his efforts to bring an end to the Israeli-Arab conflict, I think his proposed summit is unlikely to yield positive results ("Arab leaders cautiously support summit," July 18).

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' weakness was demonstrated by his party's failure to win the Palestinian elections held two years ago, and was reinforced recently by Hamas' takeover of Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has suffered crushing political defeats, both in the campaign against Hezbollah and in his forced expulsion of Israeli inhabitants from Gaza, which has led to daily rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza against southern Israeli cities.

With Mr. Olmert's approval rating at less than 10 percent among the Israeli electorate and Mr. Abbas not much more popular among Palestinian Arabs because of his government's corruption and obvious weakness, any peace discussions involving these two failed leaders, even under the auspices of President Bush and neighboring Arab nations, will be useless.

Nelson Marans

Silver Spring

Capital punishment a scandal here, too

Far be it from me to justify any form of capital punishment. Moreover, the recent Chinese execution of a high-level public administrator, as The Sun's Thursday editorial cartoon points out ("Another View," July 19), only draws our attention to other things that are radically amiss in the Chinese system.

But doesn't it say something about ourselves, too?

As a nation, we still tolerate capital punishment, a barbarous practice abolished in most other developed and enlightened countries.

But apart from easily absorbable fines and rare and unusually light jail terms, what punishment has ever been meted out to those responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands of Americans through corporate practices that knowingly encouraged the use of asbestos long after its health risks were clear or by the tobacco companies whose products may have killed more people than Chairman Mao did?

Whatever happened to those at Ford Motor Co. who allowed the Pinto to remain on the market long after it was determined that the design of its gas tank was lethal?

How many of the individuals most responsible for these corporate crimes have been punished, let alone taken to the block?

Practically none.

And this allows some corporations to get away with murder on a scale we should regard as an abomination.

Jack Eisenberg

Baltimore

Church welcomes sinners of all types

Contrary to the suggestion in some recent letters to the editor, the Catholic Church does welcome gays, as well as fornicators, adulterers, addicts, alcoholics, abortion proponents, even thieves and murderers (e.g., "Anti-gay stance shows hypocrisy," letters, July 13). It is behavior, not people, that the church is trying to change. God has called these behaviors sinful, and the church can only teach what Jesus told it to teach. The church cannot change Jesus' teachings to accommodate political correctness.

But God will give people the grace to change their behavior if they will only turn to Him and ask.

Jeannine Cain

New Freedom, Pa.

Maryland has lost ambassador, friend

It is with great sadness that I learned of Mark W. Sneed's passing ("Phillips crab empire mourns its emperor," July 18).

I've known Mr. Sneed for five years and served with him on the World Trade Center Institute Business Advisory Committee. And what separated him from other business leaders was that he was a giant of a man with a giant heart.

Mr. Sneed looked like he could be a linebacker on a pro football team, but he had such a warm gregarious nature. He had a great expressive personality and loved helping people.

He was so proud that he was able to help many people in Baltimore find meaningful jobs.

What an empty space his passing leaves in all of our hearts.

Maryland has lost a great ambassador and a great friend.

Peter Gourlay

Timonium

Copyright © 2021, The Baltimore Sun, a Baltimore Sun Media Group publication | Place an Ad
72°