Comments for The Solution to New Jersey’s Heroin Problem is Not More Drugs at http://www.localtalknews.com , comment 1 to 2 out of 2 comments http://www.localtalknews.com Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:49:11 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.localtalknews.com/opinion/letters/120-ira-levy-letter-.html#comment-23 Mr. Levy, who is NOT a doctor, seems to want to rewrite the research of the past 50 years to suit his obvious financial interest in pushing the "abstinance only" philosophy of addiction recovery, as his position with Sunrise Detox would attest. The shame in that is that he is in the proces putting the very lives of many suffering addicts at risk. Maintenance therapies with methadone and now suboxone have been proven to be the MOST effective treatments for keeping long-term addicts in recovery. And, Mr. Levy, it IS recovery. You have no province over the use of that term and are not the authority who determines who is and who is not in recovery. Levy's position points up, also, his complete lack of knowledge concerning an opioid addiction's long term effects on the brain chemistry of the abuser. Most suffer irreparable damage to the endorphin system, damage that does not heal with abstinance. The effect of this endorphin imbalance can be constant depression with accompanying inability to experience feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment with resultant life-threatening relapse being the norm rather than exception. Endorphin replacement therapy accomplished through the use of maintenance treatment utilizing the medicines Levy disarages are the "gold stanard" for controlling this chronic condition, as determed by our own U.S. National Institutes of Health, an authority with much more substance than Levy any objective observer would attest, I believe.. People in general, and suffering addicts in particular, would be better served by disregarding completely the rantings of this self-professed expert and rely on their own investigations into these life saving treatments. Information with the research to back it up is widely available online through the CSAT and SAMHSA websites of our National Institues of Health. 50 years of research and effective usage say that Levy is banging a drum only to increase the ring of the cash register that feeds him, not with the interests of suffering addicts in mind. He's of the "I did it so anyone can" group, a group whose only effect is to, again, put people's lives at risk to hear the banging of their own drum. I'd stick with the research and the RESULTS. J.R. Neuberger National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery - J.R. Neuberger Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:25:41 +0100 http://www.localtalknews.com/opinion/letters/120-ira-levy-letter-.html#comment-22 i couldn't agree more with this author! lets get off drugs for the betterment of all - Richard Butler Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:46:13 +0100