Methadone debate

In his June 28 op-ed piece, Dr Jeffery S. Barkin writes, “Methadone is a treatment with a high failure rate…” because “at least half” of those treated will relapse within a year. This sounds like a case of the glass being half empty as opposed to half full. A 50 percent success rate sounds great and worth the risk, since the addict who doesn’t recover will be no worse off and the half that do will be far better off.

There are many people with various illnesses who would gladly take a drug that had a 50 percent chance of success even with the possibility of serious side effects, which methadone does not.

Barkin and others also claim methadone treatment clinics “are attractive targets for dealers,” and therefore shouldn’t be located in Bangor. Perhaps the police could watch the place and grab them. Thus the clinic would be killing two birds with one stone, curing the addict and catching the dealer. Doug Hufnagel Belfast