Jun 19, 2018
Dear Hossein,
I am sure the rituals of food preparation and sharing during Ramadan does much to renew the ties of affection ties and sense of community within Congress 60.
I hope that the PhD dissertations in Farsi will be able to later abstracted and translated for publication in the international addiction journals. Maybe we can recruit some individuals who could help with the writing of such articles.
As you know, I am quite interested in what you are doing with music and art within Congress 60. We are seeing growing interest in involving people in recovery in athletic-related social activities and some small projects with the arts, but I would love to see more work on music and recovery. Please send more details about this as these activities increase in Congress 60 so that I can pass this information on to others here in the U.S. and in other countries.
Dr. Ekhtiari and are continued to communicate and we just got one other researcher today interested in possible future projects. I am delighted you will be sponsoring this year's international congress on addiction in Iran. Please send photos of this event. I have stopped traveling and presenting at conferences as you know, but there is one conference held each year here in Punta Gorda that I do attend and do a question and answer period for participants. It is my one chance to get information on what is happening in local communities across the U.S.
I was asked this morning if addiction programs in Iran were now using buprenorphine in the treatment of opioid addiction. I was not sure of the answer so wanted to ask you if some of the methadone programs or private physicians were now prescribing this medication.
Rita and I are doing well, even though we are entering the hot and humid season in Florida that raises our risk of hurricanes. Last year we evacuated for 7 days, but we are hoping for a quiet hurricane season this year.
Please extend my warmest regards to your wife and children and all members of Congress 60.
Friends and Brothers Forever,
Bill