ADDING METHADONE SLOTS PROMISES BROAD BENEFITS

The King County Council has acted responsibly by expanding the
capacity of opiate treatment programs to 3,150 slots, an increase of
more than 50 percent. With the tripling of heroin deaths here between
1990 and 1998, the council could have done no less.

Allowing more addicts into existing methadone programs surely will
result in reductions in crime and the transmission of communicable
diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. In time, Seattle-King County
should be able to relinquish the title of heroin capital of the country.

Now the compassion shown by the council toward heroin addicts must be
replicated by elected officials in the 35 counties where methadone
treatment is not yet available, largely because of prejudice and
ignorance about drug addiction.

Currently, King County is one of just four counties that permit this
sensible, workable regimen. The others are Pierce, Spokane and Yakima.
Some of the additional slots here undoubtedly will be taken by
residents of Snohomish, Kitsap or other counties who make long
journeys each day to receive a dose of methadone.

King County has no monopoly on the woes associated with heroin; just
as addicts live in every neighborhood in the county, they live in
every county in the state. Health officials in Olympia, as well as
those here, must increase outreach efforts to persuade other counties
to take care of their own.