TREATMENT BY COMMITTEE

Sir. - I see Fianna Fail is going to make the drug issue a priority in the general election. That's the good news

Sir. - I see Fianna Fail is going to make the drug issue a priority in the general election. That's the good news. The bad news is that they think that a committee should decide how long a person should stay on methadone, a legal drug prescribed by a doctor. We've been there and done that. When a woman needed sterilisation, representation to an ethics committee was made on her behalf This committee decided for or against!

Recently we had the spectacle of a vasectomy clinic closing due to picketing and pressure from local conservatives in Donegal. Medical treatment of drug abusers should be a matter for the patient and the doctor alone.

There is a curious irony in Fianna Fail's Bertie Ahern making drugs a major issue in the next general election. Especially since he represents the Dublin central constituency which has seen more people die from drugs than any other. It never had a priority before. Funny that. - Yours, etc.,

Calderwood Road, Dublin 9.