DRUG-FREE DEATH ROW??

According to an AP report on Aug 24 the San Quentin authorities have given up on trying to determine how an inmate on death row got the heroin, needle and syringe with which to take a fatal overdose. Gee - if we can't keep drugs off of death row, who can possibly still be naive enough to think we can achieve the goal of a "drug free America"? RGN

Opiate Addiction

IF YOU CAN'T KEEP THE STUFF OFF DEATH ROW . . . . Aug 24 2005 AP report says "more than a month after a death row inmate died of a heroin overdose San Quentin Prison officials closed the investigation . . . " My God - can't keep heroin and needles and syringes out of the yhands of death row inmates? And US still clings to the notion that we can pursue a zero tolerance goal for drug use? RGN

Removal of 30-patient limit for Buprenorphine a Good Thing

Wider access to Buprenorphine for the treatment of heroin addiction is indeed a welcome development (Aug 4, 2005). The 30 patient limit on physician groups, even those working for hospitals, never made sense and it's good that it's been removed.

One major healthcare system, however, the Veteran's Affairs network, has been exempt from this limit from the outset. As the largest integrated healthcare provider in the nation, the VA could have been delivering this care to tens of thousands of patients for several years, but it has sat passively on the sidelines and ignored the need that everyone knows exists. Why?

Opiate Addiction

Bin Laden allegedly plotted to ship huge amounts of poisoned cocaine into America, a plot that the NY Post says was thwarted by the Colombian drug lords concern that this "might effectively destroy the market . . . " (Post, July 26). The humorous side: Jay Lenno commented that every patriotic American should use cocaine because otherwise we'd be letting the terrorists know that they have won. The serious side: when the major drug cartels are able to prevent contaminated cocaine coming into the US, but the tens of billions of US government dollars each year have made not the slightest impact on the availability of the "good stuff" coming across our borders, maybe it's time to reassess the fundamental assumptions that guide this domestic war of ours. RGN