PUBLIC OFFICIALS REFUSE TO IDENTIFY DRUG ADDICTS

How appalling that public officials refuse to identify drug addicts,
so they may receive treatment. It's as if Linda G. Fox, secretary of
Maryland's Department of Human Resources, identifies more with drug
addicts than with the public good ("Drug abuser care program reaches
few," Nov. 28).

A mandatory blood test for all those on public assistance would
identify the addicts immediately. Then, addicts could be required to
enter treatment or forfeit further public assistance.

This policy would serve clear notice that, as long as one is a drug
addict, one is ineligible for the public dole.

That Ms. Fox and other public officials have not instituted mandatory
testing speaks volumes about their willingness to tolerate a status
quo that includes thousands of broken families and generation after
generation of human tragedy.

To those who would raise privacy concerns, I'd note that those who
have their hands in the public pocket must expect to be held
accountable for their behavior.

A person living at public expense has, at the very least, the
obligation to try to become a productive and independent citizen and a
good parent. Clearly, no progress toward such goals is possible as
long as a person is a drug addict.

We can only hope that Mayor-elect Martin O'Malley will send drug
apologists such as Ms. Fox packing. We have seen enough of officials
who feel it is a kindness to ignore addiction to hard drugs.

In fact, Mr. O'Malley could do worse than to make drug testing and
treatment the central focus of his administration. Nothing would do
more to repair the social fabric of this besieged city.

James W. O'Reilly
Monkton