FOR DRUG ADDICTS: TREATMENT, NOT JAIL

To the Editor:

Anthony Lewis should think twice about buying into the simplistic
drug-war-failure rhetoric (column, Jan. 5). American drug policy is
ineffective because we have not provided treatment for people with
addictions.

Research has shown that drug use and related crime are reduced by
treatment. Last month the National Institute of Drug Abuse released a study
showing a 70 percent reduction in heroin use and a 50 percent reduction in
cocaine use among people who spent at least three months in treatment.
Heroin addiction is particularly amenable to treatment.

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani knows this and has announced a new strategy for
New York City that invests in expanded treatment for key groups like
prisoners and mothers with children in foster care. It is estimated that
800,000 adults and 50,000 New York City teen-agers could benefit from
substance abuse treatment.

DAVID L. ROSENBLOOM
Boston, Jan. 6, 1998
{The writer directs Join Together, a group that assists communities
fighting substance abuse and gun violence.)

To the Editor:

Anthony Lewis argues the need to change America's drug policy on the
premise that our war on drugs has been an "overwhelming failure" (column,
Jan. 5). To the contrary, this country has had great success in dealing
with drug abuse.

According to data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, there
are 10 million fewer drug users in the United States today than there were
in 1985. The survey also shows that cocaine use has decreased 75 percent.
Federal statistics show that crime rates in New York, Los Angeles and
Washington dropped dramatically in 1997. The Justice Department believes
the decline in crack cocaine use was a factor in this positive trend.

Even with these achievements, this country still indeed has a drug problem,
and we need to do more. But to throw up our hands and decide that "drugs
are here to stay" is irresponsible.

RICHARD D. BONNETTE
President, Partnership for a Drug-Free America
New York, Jan. 6, 1998

To the Editor:

Anthony Lewis (column, Jan. 5) states that the country's war on drugs is
"an overwhelming failure." But it is not a failure that cocaine and crack
use have dropped. In fact, it is a reason cited to explain the drop in
crime across the country. Nor is it a failure that even with a rise in
marijuana use the past few years, adolescent marijuana use is still lower
than in the peak years of the late 1970's.

The Swiss heroin maintenance project Mr. Lewis lauds is only preliminary,
and its implications are far from clear. The English, who had heroin
maintenance for decades, now rarely use it. We should expand methadone
maintenance programs and therapeutic communities before promoting an
unproven approach.

We agree that "drugs are here to stay," but the issue is whether
eliminating prohibitions would not lead to an even greater use of dangerous
drugs and more societal harm. As physicians who treat addicted people and
study the disease process, we cannot condone such an initiative.

MARC GALANTER, M.D.
HERBERT D. KLEBER, M.D.
New York, Jan. 7, 1998

To the Editor:

There are no simple solutions to the heavy drinking that plagues many
colleges (Education Life, Jan. 4). But administrators, faculty, law
enforcement, students, parents, local businesses and neighbors working
together can make a difference. As a starting point, they can insist on the
enforcement of laws against serving minors and intoxicated people and push
for the elimination of bar promotions that encourage drunkenness.

Students have provided leadership in changing the campus culture.

They have advocated policies restricting campus alcohol advertising and
alcoholic-beverage company sponsorship of university events. Student
activism, law enforcement and "town-gown" cooperation can help establish
healthier norms of college drinking.

DEBRA ERENBERG
Alcohol Policies Associate
Ctr. for Science in the Public Interest
Washington, Jan. 8, 1998