Love this e-mail from one of dozens who wrote this morning:

Why isn't our government making Baltimore the Rehab Capital of the country, instead of the Heroin Capital?  If we floated one-tenth the number of bonds to fund rehab, as we do to fund stadiums, we could really make Baltimore special.    --  Steve McDonald

Please note: Thursday's column, and the legislation it addressed, was about low-level, two-time-loser drug offenders, not the chronic serial offender this reader describes:

Three years ago this month my home was broken into by a drug addict.  Since that time I've become my neighborhood's crime chairman, the Vice President of Baltimore City's Southern District Police Community Relations Council and the co-organizer of the Southern District's award-winning Citizens on Patrol program.  It is through these activities that I first met Delegate Brian McHale.
This past Monday, Brian called me from the floor of the House of Delegates as discussion began on legislation to parole those convicted of drug offenses early.  He wanted to know again how many times the individual who had broken into my house had been arrested.  At last count "John Doe" has been arrested or given a criminal citation over 50 times within the last eight years.  One of his most recent arrests - for stealing the purse of his court appointed drug counselor.  There is no doubt that John Doe needs drug counseling. There is also no doubt that when John Doe is out of jail he will continue his crime streak to feed his habit.  While he is not a violent criminal, (his offenses include auto theft, theft from auto, burglary and drug possession) he still has victims.   
What Delegate McHale and many others including myself want is the expansion of drug counseling while these individuals are in jail.  I agree that we can not arrest our way out of a drug epidemic but I know our communities are safer if addicts receive treatment while incarcerated.  -- Shannon Sullivan

More comment from readers:

I am a Recovering Person who was addicted to various substances including heroin and other opiates.  I was fortunate to attend Treatment in 1981 and has been drug and alcohol free since that time.  I am involved with treatment of addictions and has been doing so since 1983 in various  capacities.  Currently I am the Court Liaison for Gaudenzia of Maryland and can give testimonies that  our City and State have been ravaged by the Disease of Addiction.  I have witnessed in the criminal justice system that Treatment for  persons who are activity addicted to Drugs and alcohol and involved in the system is a Major component to revamping the system and saving our communities and citizens.  In my daily and sometimes hourly "fight" to maintain abstinence  and practicing  principles, I have found that my treatment experience and subsequent involvement with 12-step support groups, consistent prayer and  helping others has discounted that old myth, " Once an addict always an addict and that " we " Don't Recover.  WELL, WE ADDICTS AND ALCOHOLICS DO RECOVERY AND we can Heal !!!!.  You are absolutely correct that  "WE can NOT ARREST OUR WAY OUT OF THIS DILEMMA "  We need the POWERS-TO- BE to recognize that their previous efforts have been unsuccessful, we need more opportunities for treatment and less opportunities for INCARCERATION.
My life-experiences have shown me that when a person achieves a measure of Recovery or even a chance for treatment they should imagine the POSSIBILITIES !! I in my own life had the spiritual Light bulb go off when I was in treatment and others assisted me with Busting through my denial and breaking the bondage of Drug Addiction.  Once again I say with pride and conviction that WE ADDICTS AND ALCOHOLICS DO RECOVER!!  The proof is in the
growth and success of N.A. and A.A. and the many, may Recovering Persons not only in this city and state but all over the world.  Before closing I would beg to differ with you on one point that you made in your article-  "RELAPSE IS A PART OF RECOVERY "  I have found that that statement is INCORRECT.  Doing my 25 years and some days of recovery I have observed that - " RELAPSE IS A PART OF THE ILLNESS OF ADDICTION AND THAT WHEN THIS ILLNESS IS TAKEN LIGHTLY AND MINIMIZED IT CAN BECOME FATAL. That is a true Fact.  We can and do recover, but some have died so others can live.  -- Charles Cockrell, Jr.

It's so devastating that we give addicts food and housing on demand (commit a criime, we'll house and feed you) but cannot see our way clear to giving them treatment on demand for as often as they ask for it.

I am always interested to read your columns about drug addiction in Baltimore City . I am a suburban ex-soccer mom whose son returned from college addicted to heroin. He came home to remove himself from the situation on his rural campus and immediately discovered a carnival of heroin 10 minutes from our home. He has been fighting his addiction off and on for a year and it is an epic battle. I constantly think of how hard it is for him with so many resources to try to beat this addiction- what happens to those who must wait for such long periods of time for help? He was arrested twice in a week last summer in a part of Baltimore where he should never have been. He was on probation this fall  but as you mentioned- relapse is a crime ,not part of the progressive journey toward recovery in the eyes of the court. He is lucky enough to be sentenced to drug court- BUT the sentencing happened on Feb 22 and the first hearing is not until May 1. He is fortunate- we pay for him to see a therapist, a psychiatrist and a doctor who can prescribe Suboxone.  All of these interventions are not even enough- he slips back sometimes for short periods. 

I spend my days in Baltimore City- visiting new teachers in the schools and supporting them in every way I can. I see the addicts and the dealers on the streets and in the alleys ( sometimes I have to wait behind them at the corner while men in work trucks  buy their daily hits).   It is scary for me to think of how difficult or nearly impossible it must be for the people I see to get the support they need to quit.   Thanks for speaking up for all of the people who have this disease of addiction. Keep up your solitary cry.