THE STANDARD’S front-page story about the tragic death of David Kennedy mentioned his treatment in Europe from "… one therapist who wired him up to a black box which emitted electrical pulses, supposedly to cure him of his addiction to heroin.”

Dr Meg Patterson has detoxified hundreds of heroin addicts using a machine which could be mistaken for the one described.

I would hate for there to be any doubt about this: Patterson’s machine works. I know because I was treated by Meg Patterson myself when addicted to heroin two years ago. I have not returned to the drug since, nor touched alcohol to date.

It cannot cure, it can only detoxify. Only society and better family life can cure us all of our many and varied addictions. That includes heroin, the most insidious.

At a time when so many of our own teenagers are getting accidentally addicted to heroin through smoking it in small, cheaply available amounts, it is vital that people know that Meg's treatment works in 80 per cent of cases. There is hope.

One day I hope to see it available on the NHS. Certainly such a novel treatment should not be prematurely blurred.

– Pete Townshend, Twickenham, Middx.