LOVE AND AIDS IN REHAB

Thank you for the recent article about addiction written by Kristian
Gravenor ["The dope on drugs," Kristian Perspective, Feb. 10].

Something that always strikes me about the testimonials Gravenor describes
is the regularity of the downward spiral that people go on. It often starts
with a choice to suppress the stress and heartbreaks of life and invariably
ends up in rehab, prison or cemeteries. Thankfully, I only did rehab.

In some countries, however, getting into rehab care is not that easy, given
funding constraints. Some programs are far too long, and drug users also
risk institutionalization, not to mention the loss of day-to-day rights,
such as having a lover. The rationale is, "You're supposed to be thinking
about getting your life together," but in the age of AIDS, prohibiting
condom availability in drug treatment programs with injection drug users
about is too risky. At the very least, staff should be in a position to
facilitate workshops about blood-borne disease prevention so that those
who, for example, choose clandestine sexual relationships know how to use
condoms.

While many criticize the "anonymous" programs (NA, AA, etc.), at the very
least they often give people a social network of support, where such issues
are addressed consistently.

Andria Efthimiou-Mordaunt

London, U.K.