As two of the French experts interviewed for The Sun's recent series on buprenorphine, we were dismayed that the major public health benefits of French policy were not properly reflected ("The 'bupe' fix," Dec. 16-Dec. 18). We feel that the response by The Sun's public editor to the criticism of the series by several leading public health professionals demonstrates a continuing disregard for the evidence ("How Sun took on bupe," Dec. 23). In 1994 in France, heroin overdoses claimed more than 500 lives - most of them injecting drug users who often shared needles. Opioid substitution treatment and needle exchange programs were not available.

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Now that the city of Baltimore has exceeded last year's murder tally, it is time for The Sun and others to admit that aside from the relatively few innocent victims caught in the crossfire, the vast majority of murders in this city are drug-related, and that the murders are a symptom of a largely unaddressed metropolitan health problem known as addiction ("277th killing in '07 is grim milestone," Dec. 21). In the meantime, the majority of city residents go about their business in productive, drug-free neighborhoods and are not really impacted by this spike in violence.

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As a physician and public health professional who has dedicated my career to improving the lives of those with addiction to heroin and other opiates, I read with dismay The Sun's articles on buprenorphine ("The 'bupe fix,'" Dec. 16-18). I have never seen a newspaper report so lacking in balance and context. Every medication has side effects; what's critical is the balance of risks and benefits.

Buprenorphine is an effective treatment for the dangerous disease of opiate addiction. Balanced against the benefit of saving thousands of lives is the small risk of diversion of the drug, which is a tiny slice of the overall illegal drug trade.

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Yes, addicts will be addicts. Yes, I've heard of adults huffing paint, shooting Viagra, smoking crumbs from the carpet and even, occasionally, of somebody abusing "bupe" - all in a desperate search for any kind of high to substitute for their elusive drug of choice. But let's get real: No hard-core (or any-core) addicts are seriously seeking Suboxone for steady consumption.

And The Sun fails to offer any convincing evidence of widespread abuse of the drug other than anecdotal comments from attention-seeking abusers and disgruntled doctors.

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The Sun's series on the abuses of buprenorphine distorts the true picture of an extremely promising therapy for heroin addiction. Given the high social costs of addiction, the United States has embraced buprenorphine as an effective treatment, after carefully examining the experience of France and other countries. And a number of extraordinary controls guide the use of buprenorphine in this country.

As a result, buprenorphine is extremely safe when used properly. And thousands of people use buprenorphine appropriately and therefore safely. It has helped them turn around their lives.

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In The Sun's recent series of articles on buprenorphine, the many positive aspects of buprenorphine seem to have been lost in the overwhelming focus on its negatives. The first and most important of these positive aspects is the number of studies that have shown how effective the medication is at helping people stop using heroin and prescription pain killers.

The diversion of buprenorphine, although an issue, must be put in the context of the illicit sale of other medications - for instance, there is even a black market for antibiotics and asthma inhalers.

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Not one person. Despite pages of text arguing that the misuse of buprenorphine is a crisis, The Sun interviewed nobody in Maryland whose initial or primary problem is abuse of the medication ("The 'bupe fix,'" Dec. 16-18). Not one good comparison. The Sun provided no information to help readers contrast the street market for buprenorphine with our major heroin problem or with the diversion of more addictive, more lethal and less regulated drugs, such as OxyContin.

Not one stereotype of drug treatment left out.

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Near the end of his column "Making drugs legal not a fix, say ex-users" (Dec. 12), Jay Hancock responds to comments about the inability of drug legalization to solve problems associated with illegal drug use from recovering addicts at Man Alive's Lane Treatment Center by saying, "Any nation trying it would encounter devilish complications."

Switzerland has proved that this statement is not necessarily true.

Through their current Heroin Assisted Treatment program, the Swiss have drastically reduced drug-associated crime, reduced new addiction and positively increased the health and social situations of heroin addicts.

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After weeks in the judicial trenches trying to keep poor people awaiting trial out of jail, my University of Maryland law students almost always have the same two questions:

Why does the state's pretrial justice system incarcerate so many people, typically 30 days and longer, because they can't afford bail?

And why does the legal profession seem to care so little about accused indigents denied a lawyer at the initial bail stage, given its respect for the 1963 Gideon v. Wainwright ruling, where the nation's highest court declared the right to counsel fundamental for ensuring equal justice?

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It's disappointing - although not surprising - that a promising drug in the fight against addiction has become a sought-after narcotic in the illegal drug market in some areas of the U.S. and in other countries. As detailed in a series in The Sun that concludes today, buprenorphine is being abused by some patients and black marketeers, who sell it for profit or combine it with other drugs for a different kind of high.

This drug "diversion" is not unusual and is no reason to give up on "bupe," which has helped relieve addiction to heroin and prescription painkillers, such as OxyContin. A key solution is to put more safeguards in place, including more training for doctors and counseling for patients.

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Yesterday, a federal grand jury indicted a West Baltimore man who acted as cameraman for the notorious Stop Snitching DVD on drug-related charges.

Akiba M. Matthews, 35, was charged with distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

If convicted on all charges, Matthews faces up to life in prison. At minimum, law enforcement officials said a conviction on the firearms charge by a felon carries a mandatory minimum prison term of five years

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With a welcome dose of common sense, the U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear that federal sentencing guidelines are advisory, not mandatory, and that a judge is still free to exercise discretion, depending on the circumstances of the case. The court's reiteration of the principle that judges should use their judgment is particularly appropriate in drug cases, where mandatory minimum sentences are often unnecessarily harsh and disparate punishments involving crack and powder cocaine are especially glaring.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission's unanimous vote yesterday in favor of a retroactive review of many of these sentences should help restore some fairness, but it comes after too many people have already served too much time. Congress needs to enact more comprehensive relief.

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Legalize drugs? That's what I advocated in this space a month ago. By allowing licensed clinics to sell or dispense hard drugs, we could take business away from violent dealers and let rationality and regulated economics rule the streets instead of robbery and murder.

Not so fast, say people who really know about heroin supply and demand. The hard-drug trade, say former patrons, doesn't have much to do with rationality.

"I don't think that's going to stop the dealers from dealing," says Felicia, 47, a recovering addict who notes that even legalized methadone is bought and sold on the streets. "It may slow it down some. But there's always going to be someone out there that's going to sell to me. Always."

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On the question of drug and alcohol use at Loyola College, Cynthia Parcover seeks out the answers in the classrooms. Parcover conducts the Loyola College Student Lifestyle Survey (LCSLS), one tool in the college's campaign to assess campus norms on subjects ranging from prayer and service, to alcohol and drug use. As the Assistant Director for Alcohol and Drug Education and Support Services (ADESS), she is on the forefront of the effort to study student perceptions, compared with what officials in the administration call campus realities. Other surveys the College refers to are the New Student Survey (NSS) and Core Alcohol and Drug Survey (CORE).

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Despite the controversy surrounding The Greyhound's first installment of its series, "A Costly Habit" on cocaine use at Loyola, we are glad to see the story raised reactions both positive and negative. As the sole newspaper on campus, we must take into account our effect on the college community, and of course, how the Loyola student community views, itself, as a result. Either way, any sort of discussion that takes place must examine both the positive attributes of Loyola's community, of which there are many, and the negative in order to educate ourselves about campus realities.

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Two students were discovered with marijuana in Cecil and Harford dorms four weeks ago, while a large rumor is circulating around campus that another drug bust occurred in Caroline House.

According to Chestertown Police Captain Robert Edler Jr., [redacted] was arrested in [redacted] for marijuana possession.

The Harford incident occurred at 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 31.

The student has not been charged yet, and police have not released the name.

According to Public Safety records, no such incident in Caroline happened. Director of Public Safety Jerry Roderick says that the persistent buzz on campus about such an occurrence "is a mystery."

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The philosophy of harm reduction that forms the basis of the Good Samaritan policy I hope to enact through the University Senate this year is straightforward. This excerpt from the website of the nonprofit organization Harm Reduction Coalition (www.harmreduction.org) summarizes the guiding principle quite well: "[A public policy approach of harm reduction] accepts, for better and for worse, that licit and illicit drug use is part of our world and chooses to work to minimize its harmful effects rather than simply ignore or condemn them." This acceptance does not indicate "giving up" on the drug problem but taking a positive and effective approach to solving it.

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New Police Commissioner Questions Policies on Drugs, Arrests

The City Council is to vote tonight to approve Frederick H. Bealefeld III as Baltimore's 36th police commissioner since 1850, and the first under the administration of Mayor Sheila Dixon.

The 45-year-old began his law enforcement career a quarter-century ago in Baltimore and has worked under 10 commissioners.

With Baltimore on the verge of recording 300 homicides in a year for the first time since 1999, Bealefeld faces a daunting challenge. Violent crime, drugs, gangs and witness intimidation threaten to undermine recent improvements in public safety that have sparked a resurgence in many neighborhoods.

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Deceased Suspect Had A History Of Violence

The Annapolis police officer who was shot during a Friday afternoon drug raid in Eastport is out of the hospital and recovering at home, a department spokesman said yesterday.

Police also say they seized about $1,000 worth of cocaine following the shootout that left the suspect dead.

Lt. Brian Della said Officer 1st Class David Stokes, who was hit in the leg during the 12:22 p.m. raid and flown to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, was released later that night. "He is doing well," Lt. Della said at a news conference yesterday.

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Photo Caption: According to the DEA supply of cocaine nationally has decreased over the past 18 months. Prices have risen by 15 percent per pre gram, making a typical purchase of cocaine well over $130.

Matthew Lindeboom contributed to this story.

"I wouldn't say cocaine is prominent on this campus right now," says an upperclassman from Loyola College who wishes to remain anonymous. "It is in a down period. We need more dealers on this campus. There doesn't seem to be many."

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