About His Callous Remarks
On Monday July 20, 1998 during
a press conference Mayor Guiliani stated
that in 4 years he would close all the
methadone programs.
We need your help — this is important
not only for New York but because
other mayors and governors may get similar
ideas and internationally this
may hinder countries who were just beginning
to set up a methadone
treatment system. Therefore, in
essence Mayor Guilianis reckless remark
can have far reaching effects and impact
the lives of thousands of
methadone patients and addicts who are
seeking help for their addiction.
Just because you dont live in
New York does not excuse you. A flood of
letters need to be sent to the Mayors
office. And they need to be
continuous over the next few weeks —
through August and September so that
every week the Mayor has a stack of
several hundred letters from patients.
Personal letters from patients
are the most important letters of all. They
do not have to be long. The letters
can be simple and hand written — one
or two paragraphs are best. Patients
do not have to sign their names
either — they can use an alias like
Mary Methadone or Tommy Treatment.
They can copy this paragraph under
the alias:
I am unable to put my real name
to this letter because I am afraid of the
repercussions to myself and most important
to my family. Because of the
negative remarks about methadone treatment
made by politicians and then
sensationalized in the media methadone
patients are stigmatized and
discrimination is a common experience
for all. I have worked hard to
recover from addiction and can not afford
to lose everything or jeopardize
the standing of my family in the community
or tarnish their reputations.
Mayor Giuliani
NAMA needs copies of your letter
so that we can show several federal
agencies, including General McCaffery
of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy (ONDCP) and Secretary
of Health and Human Services, Donna
Shalala how the Mayors callous remarks
have impacted the lives of
patients.
NAMA is working with a committee
of organizations including the American
Methadone Treatment Association (AMTA)
to make sure that your letters will
make the greatest impact. We need
to have an idea as to the number of
letters that have been sent to the Mayors
Office and copies to show
government agencies that methadone patients
are taking the Mayor seriously.
Send a copy of your letter to:
Joycelyn Woods [email protected]
Or by snail mail:
- National Alliance of Methadone Advocates
435 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10003
Attn.: Letter to NYC Mayor Project
Press Release
What Should The Letter Say?
Patients: Tell the Mayor
how methadone maintenance treatment has changed
your life and what it would mean to
no longer have access to it.
Family and Friends: Tell
the Mayor how methadone has saved the life of
your loved one or friend and what you
fear would happen if their access to
methadone maintenance treatment was
discontinued. Your letter is the most
important of all because you have no
special agenda and cant be accused of
having one except wanting the person
your love to have a whole and happy
life (i.e. providers and professionals
have their job and are denounced
with the erroneous misperception that
they are just continuing addiction to
maintain employment, patients can be
criticized with the misunderstanding
that they just want to get high).
Professionals: Tell the Mayor how
you have seen methadone work and what
happens when patients are withdrawn
from methadone (e.g. most relapse).
Once you have written your letter
do something more.
Patients: Take a copy of this notice
and post it in your clinic (be sure
to ask if you can post it first). And
then every time you go to the clinic
ask the patient standing next to you
in line to write a letter to the
major.
Family and Friends: Give a copy
of this notice to your loved one who is a
patient and encourage them to write
a letter.
Professionals: Take a copy of this
notice to your clinic and put it on the
bulletin board (be sure to ask permission
first). And dont forget o
personally encourage patients at the
clinic to write a letter.
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