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Be grateful to those sacrificed for freedom in WWII

Re: Noble myths of war, by Geoffrey Wheatcroft, May 15.

I am a World War II veteran. Geoffrey Wheatcroft sounds somewhat like many children born after World War II, with a liberal college education, who now pontificate with great selective misinformation.

Most of those children fail to appreciate the honor or nobility of those willing to give their all for freedom. Yes, we made mistakes. Our Sherman tanks, submarines and other war materiel were inferior. Many of our generals and admirals tried to run the war like it was World War I, and our GIs paid for it all.

Had Adolf Hitler and the Germans waited and continued the development of missile systems and atomic bombs instead of invading Poland, they could have overwhelmed us. Germany was far ahead of us while we were sitting in our "peace-at-any-price" position.

Please don't give me your sob-sister story about bombing Germany or, for that matter, the atom bomb for Japan. What we did was child's play compared to what their troops did when they viciously slaughtered millions of helpless men, women and children all over the world.

I offer Geoffrey Wheatcroft this suggestion: Find a private place, get down on your knees and be truly thankful for the Americans who willingly gave their all so you can live in freedom.

I have not agreed with any of the wars that followed mine because I never saw the threat we faced in World War II. God bless each and every man or woman who came to our country's calling. We have no business being the world's police. If we "must" go to war, go to war to win, no matter what or how - or don't go!

Methadone use and abuse

I want to sincerely thank the St. Petersburg Times for its informative and well-researched article on drug overdoses and deaths due to methadone (Methadone overdoses in Florida: "Safe" drug a leading killer, May 15). Lisa Greene's objective reporting may well save lives. The fact that methadone is being prescribed more and more for pain, often by physicians who know little about the pharmacology of the drug, is indeed frightening.

I have worked hard over recent years, both nationally and in Florida, to get this word out - obviously, with little effect. Doctors who prescribe methadone for pain are to be commended for their efforts but must do more. Substance-abuse evaluations and drug screening should also be a part of treatment. I was at Gov. Jeb Bush's meeting on prescription abuse when he vowed to implement a registry for narcotic prescriptions. Unfortunately, the governor and state drug czar Jim McDonough have been unsuccessful to date in their efforts.

Methadone continues to be a valuable tool in fighting opiate dependence. As it takes lives when it is abused, it saves and restores lives when taken as prescribed. I only hope that the people who are responsibly treated with and benefiting from methadone are not further stigmatized.

Drug needs greater regulation

Re: "Safe" drug a leading killer.

I am a licensed psychologist who has evaluated thousands of drug addicts for the criminal justice system and for disability. For nearly 20 years methadone users have come into my office for evaluations who were intoxicated and/or continuing to abuse drugs along with the methadone. Several years ago I alerted the office of the so-called "drug czar" about a very obvious problem. All I received back was a form letter defending the use of methadone, and saying that its use was backed by leading scientists.

One of my initial responses was that the scientists probably never saw an office patient "on the nod" in their entire life, and were probably looking at data from research studies. Nonetheless, I evaluated a patient just the other day to assist in his criminal case. This man's descent into breaking into his own parent's home to obtain goods to pawn was aided and abetted by methadone. When I told the man my beliefs he said that his mother would be glad to hear my views, as that is exactly what she thought.

Methadone is a scam. The problem will not improve until the state recognizes it as a problem, and has greater regulation of its use. Ultimately, it should be done away with, with research efforts directed to coming up with something better.

Others hurt by flawed checks

Re: Faulty felon searches, May 15.

This editorial reveals much about the Times' perspective - rather unintentionally I suspect.

As an example, our National Instant Check System used to approve in-state firearm transfers has long inflicted the same sort of errors of identification upon legitimate purchasers of legal weapons as those listed in the editorial, such as false positives, duplicate names and bad data.

Despite the not-insubstantial difficulty, i.e., delays, rejections, etc., inflicted on buyers and sellers of legal firearms, I cannot remember ever seeing a Times editorial decrying the situation.

In contrast, during the past 12 months there have been numerous Times reports, opinion pieces and even lead editorials on the topic of incorrect data that potentially denies the rights of citizens legally seeking to cast their votes.

Since the perception regarding voter rights seems to focus on potentially disenfranchised African-Americans, who in recent elections have voted Democrat on a near 9-1 basis, perhaps it comes down to whose ox is being gored.

Headline heaviness

Headlines from the May 15 Times:

"Where is a sex offender to live?"

" "Safe' drug a leading killer."

"Hezbollah grows in stature in Lebanon."

"Sugar returns as supermarket demon."

Gosh, this really made me feel wonderful! Then I felt even better when I turned to Section P to determine where to send this letter. Headlines there:

"Noble myths of war."

"Arafat, Inc."

"Klansmen plus sumo wrestlers = Freakonomics."

Isn't there any good news?

Honesty in the face of illness

Re: The killer within, May 15.

I would like to thank Barry Bradley for his excruciatingly honest account of his illness. It's a scary proposition when a lay person has to self-diagnose. But physicians are not God. They are, in fact, practicing medicine. As Bradley said, no two people are alike and therefore no blanket detection or diagnosis is possible in medicine. Therefore, when we believe there is something wrong with us, we are our own best offense.

Bradley took his honesty to a plateau not usually aired in newspapers when he shared his obsession with his disease and how it has taken over every waking moment. His openness about his continuing to smoke also shed light on the addiction to one of the most powerful drugs, cigarettes. I'm rooting for his ability to quit.

What impressed me the most was the fact that he took full responsibility for his condition and didn't try to blame it on anyone else. This is most refreshing in today's world.

I hope young and old alike will read and heed Barry Bradley's words and take them to heart. My prayers are with him and his family.

[Last modified May 21, 2005, 00:09:01]