SF RESEARCHER SAYS NO TO WAR ON DRUGS

A San Francisco Researcher Says The War On Drugs Is Causing More Harm Than
The Drugs Themselves

More than a thousand public health workers and researchers are in Seattle
this week for the National Harm Reduction conference. These people work
with drug addicts and favor "harm reduction" strategies.

That means needle-exchange programs to stop Hepatitis C and AIDS, drug
substitution and compassionate counseling for addicts.

They disagree with the "just say no" approach.

Patt Denning is director of clinical services and research with the Harm
Reduction Therapy Center in San Francisco. In her words -- "Drug
prohibition is what causes the greatest harm, not drugs."

Denning dismisses the idea that users must hit rock-bottom before they can
be helped. And she criticizes methods of drug therapy that use punishment
to get addicts to kick their habits.