HARM REDUCTION

Editor -- Your report, "Changing Method of Treatment for Drug Addiction"
(Jan. 15), might have mentioned that the harm-reduction approach taken by
officials in San Francisco is well-grounded in the positive experience of
other cities, notably in Europe and Australia. We would do well to follow
the lead of Frankfurt, for example, which lowered heroin overdoses by 80
percent and reduced public nuisances associated with drug use with an
integrated harm-reduction approach.

Contrary to opinion expressed in the article, numerous studies have shown
that needle exchanges do bring heroin users into treatment. (Unfortunately,
treatment slots are not always available to them, a situation state
Proposition 36 attempts to correct.) According to the latest San Francisco
medical examiner's report, the number of heroin overdose deaths dropped
slightly in the city last year, possibly as a result of education efforts
conducted largely at needle exchange sites.

Ellen Komp, Deputy director, The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation,
San Francisco