A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR NEEDLE EXCHANGES

I'm having difficulty reconciling San Diego's motto, "America's Finest
City," with reality. Yes, we have great weather, but we are America's
second-most-expensive city. We have a huge population of homeless, mentally
ill and substance-addicted citizens, but we ignore these problems.

The Clean Needle Exchange Program would have been a big step in this
effort, but the City Council allowed emotion to guide it rather than logic,
and rejected it.

Every city that has instituted such an exchange has had a decrease in
disease and no increase in addiction. Nobody ever becomes a drug addict
because of the availability of clean needles. The program results in
addicts turning in their dirty needles rather than discarding them on the
playgrounds, back yards and streets.

We are facing an epidemic of HIV and hepatitis in San Diego. Soon, it will
become America's Sickest City if something is not done. San Diego has been
in the forefront of the movement to stop domestic violence, receiving
accolades from across the country. Why not also be a leader in the fight
against illness and addiction?

Madelyn Bennett-Gibson, San Diego