Positives of SOAR
Upon reading your article on SOAR, I suddenly felt disgusted with the Northeast Times for printing such a biased and sensational article.
While it’s true that there are some people at that clinic who simply don’t care about their own lives or the lives of those around them, there are a good number of us who are there to save our own lives and break free of the burdensome shackles of addiction.
In order to do so, we routinely attend group therapy at SOAR (groups which are vastly more beneficial and supportive than your run-of-the-mill AA meeting) and receive a daily dose of methadone, which does away with cravings so we can get on with our lives without the demon of heroin addiction whispering into our ears.
While the article complains about crime near the area of the clinic, just imagine what the crime rate would be if this life-saving medication were not available and we were forced to go back to robbing, stealing, and doing anything within our means to get that next fix.
I encourage the readers of the Northeast Times to have a bit of compassion for those addicted, seeing as heroin and opiate drugs are more prevalent among members of the white working and middle class (most of whom are residents of the Greater Northeast).
I also encourage the staff at SOAR to take a tougher stance on those who aren’t doing the right thing, because they are the ones who ruin it for those of us who are actually there to get our lives back on track.
Methadone has saved many lives, and to write such a negative article about a medication that could potentially save many more addicts from certain demise, paints us as subhuman monsters who don’t deserve fair treatment — a view which should not be tolerated in a civilized society like we have in this country.
James Allen
Frankford
Fidel Castro for mayor
I thank the Times for letting us know that the 2015 mayor’s race is already heating up, with former city execs Terry Gillen and Ken Trujillo throwing their hats in the ring.
There’s even Milton Street and Jim Kenney — talk about “rounding up the usual suspects” — and Frank Rizzo Jr. trying out his daddy’s shoes.
We have had 60 years of one-party rule, a recipe for political corruption. It shows — with endless school crises, and government scandal and dysfunction, such as L&I and the courts.
We need an outsider, a new face with bold ideas, yet someone comfortable with our style of governing. I would like to suggest Fidel Castro for mayor.
Now, I know many city leaders would find Castro too conservative for our sanctuary city, as we fight to banish soda and fatty pound cake, and replace cigarettes with marijuana as our drug of choice.
But then again, Castro could always run as a Republican.
Richard Iaconelli
Rhawnhurst
Leave Wawa out of debate
Mr. Gordon cites the discontinuation of selling cigarettes by CVS as a reason for Wawa to follow suit.
CVS says they stopped selling them because it conflicted with their policy of selling health care products that support a healthy lifestyle. Wawa has no such policy, and I think they would lose considerable business by discontinuing cigarettes.
They are indeed, a convenience store chain, and cigarettes make Wawa a convenient place to go. If you are so fixated on stopping cigarette sales go to your elected representatives and make your case. Leave Wawa out of it!
Joe Orenstein
Busleton
