BRING METHADONE OUT INTO THE OPEN

As the United States has tried to deal with the problem of drug
addiction, metaphors often have gotten in the way. We've talked about
wars, damnation and containment, while overlooking the fact that drug
addiction, at its most fundamental, is a horrific physiological problem.

The announcement last week by Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, the country's
drug policy director, that the federal government intends to
facilitate the use of methadone to treat heroin addiction is a
significant step toward a more realistic--and effective--anti-narcotics
policy, with a greater focus on treatment of those afflicted.

Methadone has been around since the 1960s and has been one of the most
thoroughly researched and effective treatments for heroin addiction.
Yet moral condemnations have kept it mostly in the nether world of
inner-city drug clinics. Eight states, in fact, explicitly ban
methadone clinics altogether, forcing addicts to travel elsewhere for
treatment.

Most recently, New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani took to the pulpit
to preach against methadone clinics. He says the government should not
be in the business of dispensing drugs to addicts and recommends that
the estimated 36,000 heroin addicts enrolled in methadone programs in
New York City just quit cold turkey.

Giuliani's sanctimonious and ill-informed campaign has been
roundly--and rightly--slammed. Heroin addiction is not just another
annoying big-city habit, critics have pointed out, like littering in
the subway or jaywalking across Madison Avenue.

Attempts to break free from heroin immediately trigger intolerable
cravings. Any semblance of a family life or career succumbs to the
obsession to get the next fix, and crime almost always becomes the
means to finance the ever more expensive addiction.

Methadone, although it can be habit-forming, calms the cravings and
often allows addicts to get jobs and stabilize their lives. During his
announcement Sept. 29, McCaffrey cited recent studies showing that
methadone reduced heroin use by 70 percent, while crime committed by
addicts dropped by 57 percent and gainful employment increased by 24
percent.

These are impressive results, both for the addicts and for society.
They suggest that methadone ought to be prescribed by private
physicians and hospitals for those who need it--like Prozac, insulin
or other maintenance drugs--and emerge from the shadows of societal
condemnation.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry