FREE HEROIN WORTH A SHOT

I don't think you guys should print letters written by directors of
institutes named after themselves anymore. Claire Waismann, director of the
Waismann Institute in Beverly Hills completely misses the mark about the
NAOMI project ["Free Heroin no healer," Letters, April 14].

Maybe if she had actually spent the time to learn anything about this free
heroin project, she would have realized that one of its main goals is to
try to help treatment resistant addicts to get off of drugs or at least to
try and help them lead functional lives. Or maybe private drug treatment
programs have become so lucrative that she feels the need to try to slander
an idea that might put hers out of business.

The most dangerous thing about medically administered opiates is that they
are addictive. So what is the harm in trying this project on some hardcore
addicts? It seems to me that some people are scared that it may actually
work, thus depriving them of street people they can spit on when they go
downtown.

Tyson Campbell