DRUG MAINTENANCE PROGRAM WOULD HURT ORGANIZED CRIME

Re: "Prescription heroin might help addicts," column, Wednesday, Aug. 30.

Gurpreet Bains is to be commended for making the case for prescription
heroin maintenance.

Switzerland's heroin maintenance program has been shown to reduce
drug-related disease, death and crime among chronic users. Providing
addicts with standardized doses in a clinical setting eliminates many
of the problems associated with heroin use.

Addicts would not be sharing needles if not for zero-tolerance laws
that restrict access to clean syringes, nor would they be committing
crimes if not for artificially inflated black market prices.

Heroin maintenance pilot projects are underway in Canada, Germany,
Spain and the Netherlands.

If expanded, prescription heroin maintenance would deprive organized
crime of a core client base. This would render illegal heroin
trafficking unprofitable and spare future generations addiction.

Putting public health before politics may send the wrong message to
children, but I like to think the children are more important than the
message.

Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.