THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 24, 1995 TAG: 9510240713
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
As I exercise daily in Portsmouth's Oak Grove Cemetery, I notice curled-up lengths of small plastic tubing, mostly light green, some tan.
Alongside the grassy pathways lie strips of plastic about the size one would use to tie around an arm to cut off blood circulation. They apparently are used by people injecting drugs into their veins.
My heart cries out to those who have an addiction of any kind. I've been there, and I know how difficult it is to arrest compulsive behavior.
I would beg those who have a drug problem to seek help. Believe me, it's worth the effort, not only for their loved ones or friends, but for themselves. Defeating addiction is not easy. The addicted must first want to stop the destructive behavior.
I suffered years of heartaches and depression before I finally was able to look at myself in the mirror and not feel total guilt. Life's so much better without addiction. If addicts knew that, they would start the healing process today.
In a way it's odd. I jog through the cemetery each day to help improve my blood flow, and it saddens me to know that some people are disrupting their blood supply to poison their bodies.
There are people eager to lend addicts a helping hand. I pray that soon I will no longer see plastic tubing along my exercise route.
RUSSELL E. BORJES
Portsmouth, Oct. 11, 1995 by CNB