SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL DRUG ADDICT

Matt Smith should do his homework before repeating clichés about drug
treatment ("Getting the Treatment," June 13, on Proposition 36, which
substitutes drug treatment for prison sentences). Research shows that
coercion is by no means necessary for addiction treatment success. It
doesn't improve outcomes, according to the National Institute on Drug
Abuse. In fact, the data show that incentives work better to get people
clean than "tough love," and that empathy and respect beat the
confrontational approach favored by providers hands down. Arizona's
program has already saved taxpayers millions -- and convinced many
formerly skeptical drug court officials. It isn't Prop. 36 that ignores
the reality of addiction -- it's the ideologically blinded treatment
lobby.

Maia Szalavitz,
New York