Copyright The New York Times
To the Editor: Re “Utah’s Proposal for Homeless: Forced Move to Remote Camp” (front page, Oct. 31): As an addiction medicine doctor, I have significant concerns about involuntary addiction treatment. Based on studies that compare voluntary to mandatory treatment, the evidence does not indicate that mandatory treatment reduces substance use. Using opioid use disorder as an example, in one study, 98 percent of those mandated to heroin detoxification returned to heroin use within a year. Why? Too often, when patients with opioid use disorder are required to get treatment, they are not offered medications for the disorder: methadone or buprenorphine. Shockingly, treatment without medication is actually more dangerous than no treatment at all, with an increased death rate of 77 percent. Medications work well. For example, a study found that patients with opioid use disorder who continued medication for 300 days had a 72 percent lower chance of overdose. With a July executive order by President Trump calling for evidence-based programs, we need to expand funding for voluntary treatment, including sober living homes and medication-based treatment. Right now, many people who want addiction treatment do not have access. Let’s adopt the science-based approach and expand voluntary, not involuntary, treatment access. Cara Borelli New Haven, Conn. To the Editor: This is a step in the right direction. What is being proposed is neither a concentration camp nor a detention camp, but rather a safe place for the homeless. They must be forcibly removed from the streets and involuntarily cared for, because they cannot care for themselves. If one of these wayward souls were my child, I would be grateful for the knowledge that my son or daughter would be humanely, and, yes, involuntarily kept in such a facility as proposed in Utah. For my fellow Democrats to take issue with such a stark proposal, shame on us. We have wasted millions of dollars on ridiculously costly solutions, and the problem has only escalated. To the Editor: Re “Frazzled Burglars Left Clues at the Louvre” (front page, Nov. 2): There is a dark irony in the indignation and surprise that bubble in the wake of the spectacular jewelry heist at the Louvre. While items taken in this particular robbery have a clear provenance and obviously belong to the French state, this is far from the case for many items in the Louvre and indeed in the rest of the world’s great fine art museums. These institutions can be seen as elegant monuments to grand larceny. Many of the items on display were simply stolen from their place of origin. Others were excavated and taken in the name of archaeological research and cultural preservation. And others were acquired on the vast black market for art. Before museum officials spend too much time frothing at the mouth, they might want to consider the true histories of their own collections. David Hayden Wilton, Conn. America’s Gambling Problem The U.S. surgeon general should issue a national report treating gambling addiction as the public health crisis it has become. The report should include a comprehensive federal strategy that includes updated prevalence data, planned prevention campaigns tailored to young people and a dramatic expansion of regional problem-gambling treatment programs, including financial counseling for those trying to climb out of debt. That’s how we start to tip the odds back in favor of public health. Jeffrey L. Reynolds Garden City, N.Y. The writer is the president and C.E.O. of the Family and Children’s Association. Some Ask, Why Retire? To the Editor: “Doesn’t That Job Get Old? In Japan, Centenarians Do It to Feel Young” (news article, Nov. 2) was excellent and inspiring. It also seemed to suggest that a lifetime of working — never retiring — leads to a long life. In fact, the research is mixed on this subject. What the research does indicate unequivocally, though, is that the retirement years can be bright and vibrant as we age if we are challenging ourselves with things that are mentally and physically hard, learning and discovering — that is, getting out of our comfort zone, having a purpose and maintaining a meaningful social life. Jerry Weinstein Rumford, R.I. The writer publishes a newsletter about retirement.
