TREATMENT FOR HEROIN ADDICTS

SAN FRANCISCO could be a nationwide leader in treating heroin addicts under
a Department of Health plan to allow physicians to prescribe methadone for
drug dependence. Currently, methadone as a treatment for addiction may only
be dispensed by specialized clinics.

Critics of the present system, including President Clinton and drug czar
Barry McCaffrey, argue that many heroin users who could be helped by
methadone treatment do not seek it because of the stigma and indignity of
going to a clinic. They also say a new system is needed that utilizes more
individually tailored treatment.

Like heroin, methadone is a habit-forming drug. But unlike heroin, it curbs
drug cravings and debilitating withdrawal symptoms. It also does not
produce euphoric highs, which allows addicts to work toward a normal life
while they are being treated.

Dr. Herminia Palacio, special policy adviser to San Francisco Department of
Health Director Mitchell Katz, called methadone ``one of the best-studied
and most effective treatments we have for opiate addiction.''

Supervisor Gavin Newsom has scheduled a hearing today on the progress in
implementing a board resolution that directed the Department of Health and
others to develop a plan to expand methadone treatment.

He and his colleagues should encourage city health officials to move
swiftly on the department proposal to allow private doctors to prescribe
the drug. The department has recommended that it act as an umbrella agency
for physicians who would like to prescribe methadone, a change that would
require waivers in state and federal regulations.

An estimated 13,000 to 15,000 heroin users live in San Francisco, yet only
2,000 are enrolled in methadone treatment. Giving individual physicians the
ability to prescribe the drug could go a long way toward ending heroin use
for many addicts and in the process help cut crime and unemployment.