I am not yet on a reduction programme and that is now four years. I grew desperate and impatient after some time and started chasing up an appointment.

It got so bad I have even tried giving up heroin myself on many different occasions. I have tried going cold turkey and also have tried to detox myself using dihydrocodeine, which apart from methadone, is the only thing that helps with withdrawals.

I still use heroin due to the fact it is just too difficult to beat addiction by myself.

I strongly agree with Steven Dalton’s view that “If we created a service for one area, people from any other area miss out”. I also strongly agree with his point “to develop programmes available to everyone”.

It is great that Addaction is there for heroin and other drug users as there are just not enough organisations like Steven Dalton’s.

The only one in Dundee is Tayside Drug Problem Service, and one organisation to detox Dundee is not enough.

If there were more there would not be such a problem with heroin. Every addict I know would love to come off heroin and wish they had never started.

Heroin is also too readily available. Police should do more about the availability. People like MSPs Joe Fitzpatrick and Shona Robison, Councillor Jim Barrie and Chief Superintendant Colin McCashey can do Dundee proud by taking a no tolerance approach to drugs.

I read about the man who has given up due to a methadone programme. I congratulate him and wish him well.

I agree with everything in his article. I, too, started heroin while in detention, aged 17. I have been hooked ever since.

I have been with my girlfriend for five years. I thought I would be able to give up my habit for my first child before he was old enough to start asking about it.

I have a lot of respect for my partner as she has stuck by me, despite what I have put her through. I sold all her gold and computers she bought for me.

That is why I think there should be more detox centres to cut waiting lists and ease the suffering of families. — User, Dundee.

When he was 15 he was good enough to be picked to train and play at Ibrox.

As he got older he didn’t bother about football and started getting into trouble with the police. He stole money from my family and friends and aged 16, he was sent to detention.

Since then he has developed a drug habit. He’s been in and out of detention because of heroin. He’s now 18 and again inside.

When he told me he was on heroin it was like he wanted help. He admitted he first used the drug on remand in Perth. He said remand is full of it.

He was sharing a cell with a heroin addict and was offered the drug a few times. He said “no” at first but then he took it. Why is a 16-year-old put into remand with heroin addicts, and why is there heroin in the jail in the first place?

My son was remanded because he broke the law, not to come out with a heroin habit. Now his life is ruined. — Angry Parent.

I am a 37-year-old man who is now stabilised thanks to methadone.

For many years before I was eventually given methadone, I used every drug available. This had a devastating effect on my family, both mentally and financially.

I was never far from court with endless charges for shoplifting and other dishonesty.

I then met a girl who wasn’t a drug user and who helped me to find help.

The problem was that I was told I would be on the waiting list for a year.

This was not the news I wanted to hear after all the miserable years my family had to endure. I then had no choice but to continue using heroin to get me through.

Eventually after seven months I was put on methadone. It was the best thing that ever happened as I no longer have to get up to steal and cheat from others, including friends and family, to get me through the day.

Now I have stability and a job.

Many heroin addicts I know are having to wait months, perhaps a year, before they get methadone.

Some may not live that long and all the while the dealers are rubbing their hands together. In my opinion we need to get heroin addicts off the drug as soon as possible to break the cycle.

My own life has changed so much for the better and I am getting advice from my key worker that I am now in a position to reduce my methadone. — Keep The Faith.

I do feel for their families who have to brave the shame of items and money stolen from the household to buy drugs. That doesn’t take into account what it costs the taxpayers when they are treated with methadone.

It’s sad to hear of the age of some users who have died. That’s when it hits home and the family suffers. — Jimmy Borland, Dundee.

The first letter stated it was the outside lane and then it was corrected a few days later, stating this was the wrong information and it should actually be the inside lane.

For years I was led to believe that The Highway Code stated that for anything over two exits, the outside lane is the correct lane — until one evening recently.

I left the circle to enter Strips of Craigie road using the inside lane to the disgust of a male driver behind me. I was subjected to a lot of horn blowing and rude hand gestures.

Maybe the installation of signs or lane markings would be a good idea to avoid any accidents. — J. B.

If you are using the left-hand lane is it for exiting down Kings Cross Road and the left-hand lane of the slip road to Kingsway (west-bound)?

Then is the other lane for exiting on the right-hand lane of the slip road on the Kingsway (west-bound) and for Macalpine Road and Kingsway heading east? — Confused, Dundee.

I recently read that Central Scotland Police is to target boy racer drivers in an effort to discover if modifications done on their vehicles had been disclosed to their vehicle insurer. I wonder if Tayside Police has any plans to do the same, and if not, why not?

Do we have to wait until a child is knocked down and seriously injured or killed, before any action is taken against these idiots? — Fintry Drive Resident.