It is great to see some light shed on the negative effects opiates/opioids have had on both the state of Maine and the United States (Peter Wohl’s commentary, Oct. 13).

Over the past nine years, my addiction to opiates has destroyed everything that was once important to me. I have experienced the absolute worst that addiction has to offer, short of dying, although I have come close more than once.

I suppose in a figurative sense I achieved death long ago.

I am currently serving time at the Kennebec County jail. I agree that jailing an opiate addict has little to no effect on additive behavior. Chronic reoffending is likely if the individual is addicted. Treatment is required.

It’s unfortunate that treatment resources in Maine have received huge cutbacks in the last decade or so. The money we should have spent on treatment in that time would have been saved 10 times over in other areas, such as law enforcement, hospitals and incarcerations.

The same people who are quick to judge and lock someone away (because they think it’s cheaper or just easier to deal with) would be shocked to learn how much it costs daily to house an inmate and how much of a hassle it really is.

I am not writing this for people to feel sorry for us. I only wish for people to become educated on the facts. Statistics don’t lie.

With all the effort and money Gov. Paul LePage is putting into criminalizing the use and possession of “bath salts” (not to lessen how terrifying that particular epidemic is), he should put a little bit of that effort into more funding and education for substance abuse.

Lots of money would be saved in the long run — not to mention heartache and lives.

Paul Glidden, Augusta