GIVE ADDICTS HELP

Susan Smith's March 10 column, "Crack house problem goes beyond drugs,"
reminds us how prohibition has changed a small set of personal problems
into a huge public problem.

Crack is a fairly unpopular drug that is used by few people. Most don't
even like the sensations it produces, but it's cheap.

Crack and alcohol are about equally addictive, but for a few users, crack
leads to huge binges (like alcohol but unlike, say, heroin). "Crack babies"
are also largely mythical. Alcohol use is much more likely to damage the
fetus and the results of alcohol damage are many times more severe.

When addicts got their drugs from health-care professionals a century ago,
there was much less addiction than today. We have made no progress at all
with the current system.

We would do much better to allow this relative handful of abusers to get
proper professional support.

JERRY EPSTEIN
President, Drug Policy Forum of Texas Houston