Don’t punish pain patients for the opioid mess
Medford, L.I.: I heard on the news that families from Long Island are going to the Capitol next week to speak about their children who passed away due to the opioid crisis. My son is in recovery for opiate addiction. I was a pain patient for more than 30 years due to chronic illness and pain. I can see both sides of the debate.
Yes, we as a nation need to stop the influx of illegal drugs being smuggled into the country. However, it is unfair to force pain patients to taper their medications when that tapering will result in more pain that will no longer be controlled. When my son was using fentanyl, he always got it on the street. He never obtained it through a legitimate prescription from a doctor.
These people who abused drugs, including my son, have created a nightmare for pain patients nationwide. What I don’t understand is why our legislators can’t see this fact. As a member of Citizens Interest Advocacy & Awareness Group, I am outraged that this is still an issue. I feel awful for these families who have lost a loved one to opiate abuse, but taking medication away from those who need it will solve nothing.
You can take opiates away from every person who requires them and those who are addicted will still have access to them on the streets. Our legislators need to wake up. Betty Miserendino
Thanks for your services
Forest Hills: I’d like to thank the NYPD for keeping the city safe on New Year’s Eve (and throughout the year) as well as all the first responders who devote themselves to helping anyone in this city who needs help. And a big thank you to the Sanitation Department for clearing up the giant mess the revelers leave behind. Linda Sperling
Truant tilde
Brooklyn: Wishing a happy New Year, I want to remind our beloved Daily News that the Spanish language has the letter “ñ,” so the officer’s name mentioned in the article “NYPD cop booted after faking COVID diagnosis to extend fam vacation” (Dec. 31) must be Edward Nuñez-Nuñez. Francisco J. Castillo
Foreign intervention
Bronx: I really enjoyed Tony Paige’s series on boxing. But he leaves out a major issue: Saudi Arabia’s recent entrance into the sport, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to set up major fight cards. As in golf, the Saudis are sure to have a major impact on the future of boxing, for better or worse. Scott Klavan
Sub-par QB
Sea Isle City, N.J.: Tyrod Taylor has to go. He cost the New York Giants three losses this year — to the Bills, the Jets, and on Sunday, the L.A. Rams. Please, Coach Brian Daboll, do yourself a favor and start Tommy Cutlets against the Eagles. Jim Fusco
Penal penalty
Brooklyn: Prisoners in New York City, especially on Rikers Island, have claimed they face inhumane conditions. In Chinatown, the city plans to close down apartments, Chinese food shops and places of prayer to build a 15-floor jail taking up much of Chinatown’s living space. This idea has not only led to a decrease of income in Chinatown due to fewer visitors, but is also a danger due to the jail’s being nearly the size of the Empire State Building with a lack of good funding for construction, which can be a safety hazard. Why is the government turning a cultural enclave where people live into a prison? This is ridiculous. Charles Allen Villasi
Bygone era
Punta Gorda, Fla.: I just picked up the Daily News for the first time since I moved out of NYC. The happy New York where I lived and worked for 50 years is long gone. Why you encourage people who want to destroy what’s left is so sad. The happy days were truly happy. Edward Farrell
A lot on the line
Fort Worth, Texas: The only thing worse than electing a man in 2024 who believes that global warming is a hoax after just witnessing the hottest worldwide temperatures in history would be electing a man who gave the one-armed Nazi salute at a rally in 2016, who claimed that Adolf Hitler “did a lot of good things” and is promising to round up all his political enemies and those immigrant vermin from s–thole countries who are poisoning the blood of white Americans and deport them or put them in concentration camps. But even more depressing is how many Americans believe that the 2024 election is simply a choice between President Biden and Donald Trump, when in actuality it’s a choice between continuing our democracy or electing an orange dictator for life. Sharon Austry
Believe the numbers
Hillsdale, N.Y.: To Voicer Robert Rundbaken: The only people who are gullible and being led by their noses are those who believe that only one person is responsible for doing all those wonderful accomplishments you stated. As for calling me a gullible xenophobe, you know nothing about me, but you are entitled to your opinion, as I am to mine. When I used the term mismanagement, I was referring to open borders letting in illegal immigrants (and who knows who else) by the thousands when we can’t even care for our own citizens, including our veterans. Have you noticed what is occurring throughout the country recently? I suggest you put down the pipe before you pick up the pen. Phil Antico
Prescient post
Goodyear, Ariz.: My letter to the editor published on Nov. 29, 2020, was as follows: “The incoming Homeland Security secretary promises to push for free citizenship for 10 million illegal immigrants. As the caravans hit the southern border, that number will grow by another million each year as he and his group give free welfare to them for four years while they try to figure out who is good and who is bad. Next, he’ll open offices in 100 countries offering free passage to America if they agree to register as Democrats. This man, by himself, will set us back 10 years as to deficits and rule of law.” I forgot to include Biden because I did not realize at the time that he was senile. Also, the time to determine good or bad is now seven years for the nearest Immigration and Customs Enforcement review! Peter Provenzale
Gaza’s misery is ours
Los Altos, Calif.: The recent reports from Gaza paint a harrowing picture of ongoing devastation. According to Gaza health officials, more than 22,000 Palestinians have lost their lives in the past 12 weeks due to Israeli assaults, with civilians targeted, including an attack on the Maghazi refugee camp during Christmas. Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom, has characterized these actions as an “on-air genocide,” urging attention to the wider implications beyond Palestinian oppression. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s acknowledgment of excessive civilian deaths underscores the urgent need for a sustainable ceasefire. The admission by Israeli military officials regarding the deadly strikes, alongside UNRWA’s plea for a ceasefire due to catastrophic hunger in Gaza, demands immediate global attention and action. The suppression of dissent and disregard for international order in this conflict have ramifications that stretch far beyond the region, impacting fundamental democratic rights worldwide. Jagjit Singh
Cite the source
Port Richey, Fla.: I notice that you always report that Israel bombed here and there. Why not tell your readers about the rockets from Gaza that are still being fired at Israel? Anti-Jewish, perhaps? Denise Goldsmith
Protect life
Bronx: While reflecting on the lives that have been destroyed in 2023, I am reflecting on the hope of the new year. Life is a precious gift given to everyone, and needs to be nurtured and preserved. When I speak of life, I speak of the innocent who have been killed, whether in war, due to the environment, during immigration, from mental illness or before they could taste their first breath of air. We need to craft laws that guarantee that life is supreme. Any law that doesn’t preserve life needs to be modified. Let’s make 2024 and beyond the years of life. Mark Walter
