WORTH A TRY

As a tourist, I had the opportunity to see meth parks in Amsterdam and
the Vancouver drug injection center and wondered whether studies had
been made to determine the viability of such projects. Arthur
Benavie's Nov. 14 Point of View piece suggests that the idea has merit.

The Vancouver injection site did spill out onto the street with
addicts milling around. Perhaps adding an area to provide meals and a
day center would eliminate the need to hang out on the street.

After I returned to Raleigh, my son was visiting and wanted to go to
Hillsborough Street and see what was new. After I dropped him off, I
turned around on a side street, and there were a couple of guys behind
a hedge obviously making an exchange. Later that evening, when I asked
my son what was new, he said "Well, there is sure a lot of drugs being
sold." You can provide an environment that may foster a positive
approach to the drug problem or you can keep the problem spread all
over the cities. From an economic and humane standpoint, the Vancouver
model should be tried in San Francisco. Many addicts are veterans and
mentally ill and would benefit most from such a facility.

Marti Van Horne