Editor’s Note: The following are “From the Heart” letters written in response to recent Finding a Fix columns and related stories in the Well-Being section.

A miracle

I started on my way to a drunkard’s world when I was 16 and now I am 72. In 1995, I went to community counseling at the building in back of the fire department in Bangor. It felt like a miracle to have a lady counselor there take the time to care about a drunk like me. I still call her my little angel. This was in the 1990s. I never gave up on what I got from her and from AA, and I still keep in contact with both. My 10 years of sobriety has had its ups and downs but now it’s more up. I walk out of my door here in Howland every morning and smell the fresh air.

– Jim B., Howland

Opiate addiction is hell

I have had an opiate problem for a few years now. It started with a couple hydros [hydrocodone] or perks [Percocet] here and there. Then I discovered OxyContin and it just overtook everything in my life. My family, my friends, my whole day revolved around getting high on Oxys.

I started out snorting them, but it wasn’t long before I tried shooting them and that was a whole different high. I hid it from everyone I could. I would mainline in the shower – nothing ever felt better then that high!! I would come out of the bathroom in a good mood and would clean my house and so on.

Eventually, I was selling Oxys to support my habit, and that wasn’t enough. I got in debt and eventually owed hundreds of dollars, maybe thousands. I didn’t care – I would say anything to get what I wanted. Now I’m on bail for burglary and stealing drugs. I have been clean for a while now, but am facing a long jail term. I have kicked the habit, but I still crave every day, all day. Opiate addiction is like hell.

– Hanging on in Caribou

Soul Food in Ellsworth

Last week the recovery community in Ellsworth heard the news that two of our own were involved in a terrible accident in North Carolina. Heading north from Florida in a pickup truck with a motorcycle in the back and towing a camper, they lost control and totaled everything. He spent several days in the hospital with a badly banged-up shoulder, and it took a week to get her stabilized to perform the skin graft surgery she needed. He’s at her side now, and if all goes well and the graft is successful, they’ll be back in Maine in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, back in Ellsworth we printed up some flyers with their pictures on them and the Riverside Cafe offered us their help. Sunday evening we held a $5-a-plate spaghetti dinner to raise money to send down to our friends. We fed about 120 recovering drug addicts and alcoholics from Hancock County. Some gave a little extra at the door and we raised over $1,100 … except for one kind lady who had a plate of spaghetti and some salad and left a check for $10,000!

So, in just a few hours, we made over $11,000 and had a great time as well. I’d like to thank all the volunteers who set up, cooked, served and cleaned up. Also the kind folks at the Riverside Cafe without whom it wouldn’t have been possible. And thanks to all those who donated desserts. But most of all, I’d like to thank each and every one in all the programs of recovery who came out and supported this event. I am truly blessed to be a part of this loving fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. What an awesome family to belong to.

– Kevin Y., Ellsworth

AA is best

A very important way to prevent alcohol and drug addiction is through preventive education. If you teach drug and alcohol education in schools, it may discourage students from getting involved in drugs and alcohol. It has worked for me.

I think the best road to recovery from drugs and alcohol, for someone who is already addicted, is to go to AA meetings. I know someone who is addicted to alcohol. The effects on his body and mind are great. He is very mean to everyone, he doesn’t remember what he does when he is drinking, he gets sick a lot, and it takes him a long time to get better. If he would attend AA, his road to recovery would be easier. And if he had preventive education in substance abuse while in school, his involvement in drugs and alcohol may have never happened.

– Tonya Lydick

The following letters arrived recently from students at Bucksport High School.

Emotional recovery

Someone who is addicted to drugs and alcohol should be treated for his or her habit and try to recover emotionally in order to be free from the effects of these chemicals. I know someone personally who is addicted to drugs and alcohol. The effect this has had on his life is quite tremendous. He craves alcohol nonstop and he drinks almost all day. This addiction has made him a total useless member of our society and most likely will be the death of him.

I think the best road to recovery from drugs and alcohol is AA, because it helps you stop drinking everyday. They talk to you and give you a sponsor to help you if you need it. If you are tempted, they will help you not drink or do drugs. They have 12-step programs that show you the right direction so you can stop drinking and help your self fully recover from it.

– Randy Grindel

Best way to stop: Don’t start

I think people should recover from addiction by any means possible, because drugs and alcohol are so bad for you. Not only are they bad for the person taking the drugs but they also affect the person’s family.

When someone starts to take drugs, they can become addicted. People have become addicted to alcohol, tobacco, heroin, marijuana and all kinds of bad drugs. Some drugs are bad for your lungs. Some people smoke cigarettes and don’t even realize that it’s bad for them.

Staying off drugs is the best way to recover from drug addiction.

– David Birmingham

Please join our weekly conversation about Maine’s substance abuse problem. We welcome comments or questions from all perspectives. Letters may be mailed to Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04401. Send e-mail contributions to findingafix@bangordailynews.net. Column editor Meg Haskell may be reached at (207) 990-8291 or mhaskell@bangordailynews.net.