NEEDLE EXCHANGES

Editor -- Conspicuously absent from your June 4 editorial, "Staying a
step ahead of AIDS," was the role of needle-exchange programs in
preventing the spread of HIV. Needle-exchange programs have been
shown to reduce the spread of HIV without increasing drug use. They
also serve as a bridge to drug treatment for an especially hard to
reach population. Drug users are not the only beneficiaries.

Centers for Disease Control researchers estimate that 57 percent of
AIDS cases among women and 36 percent of overall AIDS cases in the
United States are linked to injection drug use or sex with partners
who inject drugs. This easily preventable public-health crisis is a
direct result of zero-tolerance laws that restrict access to clean
syringes. In the interest of containing the HIV epidemic, let's hope
tough-on-drugs politicians acknowledge the drug war's tremendous
collateral damage, sooner rather than later.

ROBERT SHARPE

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington