To the Editor:

Re "The Mayor's Crusade Against Methadone" (editorial, Aug. 18):
Although I applaud your support of methadone programs, I am concerned
that you are suggesting yet another trial of abstinence-based
programs. Decades of trials have shown that only a small minority of
addicts achieve abstinence.

Methadone maintenance, on the other hand, has been shown effective in
a large majority of addicts. What are needed are new and better
medications, not new trials of drug-free treatments.

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's policy may lead to more addicts out of
treatment, on the street, committing crimes and getting AIDS and
hepatitis. How is such a policy morally superior to methadone treatment?

Mark L. Willenbring, M.D.
Minneapolis

The writer is an associate professor of psychiatry, University of
Minnesota.