LISTEN TO THE DRUG CZAR

Methadone works for many addicts. Heroin cravings that create havoc in the
brain and misery in the body subside with a daily swallow of the synthetic
substance. Methadone gives new hope to addicts once desperate enough to
steal or kill for a fix or inject themselves with AIDS-tainted needles.
Many go on to lead productive lives.

It's hard to imagine why anyone would oppose giving medication to someone
ill, as addicts are, yet several states have banned methadone. In New York
City, where the heroin problem is severe, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani wants to
end methadone treatment, which he characterizes as a substitute addiction.
``Let's try to make America drug-free,'' is his motto.

Thankfully, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the White House National Drug Policy
director, knows it will take more than platitudes or wishful thinking to
end this daunting social problem that fills prisons, spreads disease and is
responsible for billions of dollars spent on health care.

Credit the general for proposing to broaden and standardize the methadone
program, which now helps fewer than a quarter of the estimated 800,000
heroin addicts in the country. His hardly radical idea is to make the
medicine available in doctors' offices under the theory that some addicts
don't seek treatment at clinics for reasons of shame and fear of exposure.
If they could be treated privately by specially licensed physicians, their
chances of recovery would increase. Such a program is being tested in
Connecticut.

This is a no-brainer. Treatment is the most economical, effective and
humane weapon in the war on drugs. Congress should back Gen. McCaffrey's
well-grounded policy with money for states to implement the expanded
methadone program.

Study after study has shown that methadone is effective in treating heroin
addiction, and may prove helpful in ending cravings for other drugs. A
recent government survey found that addicts who undergo treatment are
considerably less likely to commit crimes to support their drug use.
Addicts who were treated with methadone showed the most significant drop.

Those who believe, like Mr. Giuliani, that people enslaved by a powerful
drug that changes their brain chemistry can simply ``get tough'' and quit
belong in Wonderland.

Checked-by: Richard Lake