Mailbag:

On behalf of the staff, supporters and patients of New Directions for Women I would like to thank you for your coverage of our equine therapy session during our recent 30-year anniversary celebration weekend (“Not just horsing around,” Sept. 16).

We would especially like to thank reporter Michael Miller and photographer Jamie Flanagan for the time they spent with us and their reporting.

Since the publication of the story, many alumnae (some we have not heard from in some time) have contacted us.

Thank you for informing readers and the community of some of the help available to those fighting addiction and seeking recovery, and thank you for the important service you provide to our community.

REBECCA J. FLOOD

Executive Director and CEO,

New Directions for Women

Comments on addicts are poorly researched

Pundits are a plethora, and the column of Joseph N. Bell (“Addicts must face themselves,” Oct. 25) passed the opinion to his friend, not bothering to do his own research such as visiting the many treatment centers, jails and 12-step meetings held worldwide and abundant in Orange County.

When his esteemed friend took the overview of drug addiction, his comments could have been better researched.

I recently wrote a television commercial targeted at preventing methamphetamine addiction and sent the script for the commercial to the Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse. I await their reply, but since it was sent just this past week, it may take some time before I hear back.

Whether a treatment center provides a $10 book at the cost of $30,000 per treatment, or a sober individual sits down with some very good advice, a drug addict costs millions to society.

Very little good thinking comes from a drug addict’s mind, and their propensity for lying is well known to the police.

SARAH MOSS

Costa Mesa

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