http://www.berkshireeagle.com/letters/ci_19376147
Sunday November 20, 2011
BETH CAPITANIO - Pittsfield
p-This would be a horrible injustice to our city.
p-Methadone is not a cure but a long-term replacement.
c-I urge the citizens of Pittsfield not to let a methadone clinic conduct business in any of our neighborhoods.
It is funny that she contradicts herself by stating that her son was an addict and got clean with the help of a methadone clinic in Springfield. So I guess her true conclusion is to urge people to prevent a clinic from coming to Pittsfield because they can always travel to Springfield if they need to.
Well, as usual when you post about Pittsfield, I know this woman. Her son passed away, but the family did learn a lot from it. I think what she is trying to do, and i agree that it may not be the best way to portray it, is tell people that methadone is bad and it should not be sold on city streets. That is my opinion, anyways.
ReplyDeleteI agree with her. But if we are looking at this like an argument, she should use that fact to strengthen one of her premises. Or, if she was looking to make a good log class example, she could have thrown in some fallacies. Like if she said that allowing a methadone clinic would lead to the arrival of strip clubs, and gangs. Maybe my next post will be a fake letter to the editor with as many fallacies as possible.
ReplyDeleteI think that for your conclusion you should take out the first part and have it say:
ReplyDeletePittsfield should not allow a methadone clinic to conduct business
Also, I do not know too much about it, but from the quick bit of research I just did it seems that while it is not perfect, if used responsibly and as prescribed, methadone can be useful. I think that this woman's experience is biasing her opinion a little bit.
Will, I think you are correct. Given that she did have a son who was addicted to the drug, she probably has a set opinion about it. Maybe if she asked an unbiased party to write up something about methadone, it would be more effective.
ReplyDeleteDamon, I also think you have a good point. If she were to add a Slippery Slope fallacy into her argument, people might pay more attention to the serious affects the drug can have. The Slippery Slope would definitely work for our class, anyways :).