DEALING WITH NEEDLES

Editor - C.W. Nevius' smarmy reporting of the events unfolding in
Golden Gate Park takes aim at the "public health crisis" unleashed by
the unwanted inhabitants of the city's crown jewel, but doesn't tell
the whole story.

Mayor Gavin Newsom's strategy has been to cluster and contain as many
poor people as possible into the Tenderloin, placing people in SRO
hotels or emergency shelters, all the while cutting key homeless
services such as drop-in centers and substance abuse programs and
eliminating shelter beds.

And those needles everyone's talking about? In cities around the
globe, containers are made available to injection drug users as well
as diabetics as part of good public health practice - in line with
needle exchanges, which save lives.

Instead of criticizing existing groups, such as HYA, working hard to
fill the gaps left by our city agencies, your paper should be focusing
on the degrading tactics employed by the mayor to champion
gentrification and drive out homeless folks in his "march of junkies."

Lauren Enteen

DOPE Project Manager

Harm Reduction Coalition

Oakland