Make This One of Your Monthly Tasks!
Write Your Representatives!
Write to your representative in Congress and tell them that methadone saved your life and that it
works. You do not have to sign your name you can make up a name like “Mary Methadone” or “Tommy Treatment” and say that you cannot sign your name because
of the stigma and prejudice directed towards this treatment and the recipients of it.
Several years ago NAMA started a tradition asking methadone patients, their families and advocates to write their representatives at the federal and state levels.
While the first year produced a blitz of letters methadone patients and their families have continued to write — and NAMA thinks this is a positive effort for all patients and their families to continue. WHY? Because even one letter can be effective.
Most methadone patients believe that their representatives will not listen to them. This is not true. As a law abiding and voting constituient you will discover that your representatives will listen to you. And politicians have a way of counting letters
so that one letter often represents the views of hundreds of their constituients. So to them receiving one letter is really like receiving 50, 100, or 1000 letters. Your one letter can mean a lot!
You can easily write one letter for the year and send it each month. With some editing you can add the isues that a particular representative is interested in or oversees.
So make a note of where to send your letter each month.
LEGISLATOR |
SEND LETTER TO: |
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EXECUTIVE BRANCH |
President Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 White House Website And don’t forget The First Lady and Vice President Biden |
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CONGRESS |
Congressional Representative U.S. House of Representatives Senator U.S. Senate Home Page Don’t forget Majority and Party Leaders and the Committees |
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THE STATES |
State Governor State Senator and/or Assemblypersons State Legislature Internet Links |
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CITY GOVERNMENT |
Mayor or City Council U.S. Conference of Mayors |
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OTHER VIPS |
Office Of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Michael Botticelli, Director (Drug Czar) David Minets, Ph.D., Deputy Director ONDCP Website Also at the federal level are numerous Departments and Agencies, the top Departments sit on the President’s Cabinet: Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration SAMHSA (Sam-Sa) (oversight of methadone and buprenorphine) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment C-SAT (the SAMHSA agency that oversees methadone and buprenorphine) National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA At the state and city level are more Departments and Agencies: Department of Health or Public Health And every state has a Signle State Agency (SSA) that oversees drug and alcohol treatment. You should know the SSA for your state because within that agency is the State Opioid Treatment Authority or SOTA. This position is the link between federal and state agencies. And cities and counties may also have a Department of Health or even a Committee of experts to advise them. You don’t have to know them all but it would be smart – just as an individual patient to develop a local relationship. |
This is Important!
After you write your letter post it at our forum We Speak Methadone and Buprenorphine too