LETTERS: METH ADDICTS NEED HELP, INMATE SAYS

To the editor:

I've lived in Cape Girardeau all my life. I get the newspaper here at the Oxford, Wis., Federal Correctional Institution every day. I used to be a meth dealer. I've been sentenced to 20 years. I'm 28 years old. Basically my life is over.

I want to tell the people of Cape Girardeau that they have a very big problem on their hands. I'm not a violent person. I never have been. I read in the newspaper about stopping all of these meth labs in the Bootheel. The politicians and the FBI don't understand what they are dealing with. They are dealing with a sickness, an addiction that is so extreme. They've never done the drug, so they really don't know.

I don't think that giving a life sentence to a drug dealer or user is positive. In fact, it's negative. Most of these people need help, not punishment. Believe me, I've been there. It's a sickness. I wish I could express to you the extreme sickness it is.

My life is over, but I hope someday the government will find help instead of incarceration for these people. Basically, the users of the drug beg the dealer to deal it. The government needs to look at this from the user's side. It doesn't take 20 years to help a man or woman to get a trip on life. It just takes a lot of love and caring. Users are humans too.

Thank you for reading this. Maybe someday the government will help addictive people like myself. I'm incarcerated not, and at least I have peace within myself because I'm drug-free.

MARK ABBOTT

Federal Correctional Institution

Oxford, Wis.