It's not hard to realize that there has been an increase in crime do to drug addiction in Maine.

From homicides, robbery, burglary and theft, to any number of other lesser crimes stemming from addictions to heroin and prescription painkilling medications. It is my opinion that some of these are caused by the lack of help available to the addict in Maine, where there is no place to get help in any type of timely fashion.

I know people who have been trying to get help for their addictions for months, with no end in sight. There are too few options, methadone clinics, openings at these clinics, and too few people who want to do their jobs to help people.

For example, the Waterville clinic has a three-month wait just to be seen, and that's if you can get someone to call you back. Three months can seem a lifetime for an addict who needs to support an addiction of several fixes a day to keep themselves from going into the throes of withdrawal. When these fixes cost upwards of $100 each, crime can seem an easy answer to the horrible question of addiction.

We need to help these people by educating the public on what can be done. We need more methadone clinics, more staff at these clinics, and more doctors willing to prescribe these helpful medications.

Pike Lanctot

Madison