DEMAND REDUCTION NEEDED IN DRUG WAR

Editor, Times-Dispatch: Regarding your August 30 story, "Heroin Toll Rising":

As an addiction health care provider and researcher, I have been aware of
the rising problem of heroin not only in the Richmond area but in many
cities in the United States. Not only is this heroin getting purer, but the
price remains unchanged on the street. This indicates efforts to reduce the
supply of heroin and other illicit drugs have not been very effective.

We need to change our emphasis from supply reduction to demand reduction.
Unfortunately, you do not even address these issues. At no point are the
words "prevention" or "treatment" mentioned. The Rand Corporation has
documented the failure of the supply approach and the effectiveness of the
demand approach. Research in California shows that for every dollar spent
on treatment, there is a $7 savings to the community.

There are a number of cost-effective approaches for dealing with heroin,
and the most cost-effective is methadone maintenance. Yet neither
Chesterfield nor Hanover, which report increasing problems with heroin,
offers methadone maintenance as a treatment.

If we are going to be serious about effectively reducing drug abuse, we
need to change our priorities from a predominantly supply-reduction
criminal justice approach to one that provides effective treatment for
those who need it, but also places a significant effort on preventing
people from using drugs in the first place. This includes efforts to reduce
alcohol and tobacco use, which are the true gateway drugs for young people.

Sidney H. Schnoll, M.D. richmond.