HOMELESS ADDICTS

Editor -- Sister Bernie Galvin and Rabbi Alan Lew scoff at Supervisor Gavin
Newsom's homeless initiative, claiming that more than 60 percent of San
Francisco's homeless "do not abuse substances" ("The false hope of Prop.
N," Open Forum, Sept. 13).

Experts disagree on the percentage of homeless who are addicts. However,
Galvin and Lew forgot to mention that in the past 10 years, more than 1,000
homeless people died on the city's streets, mostly from drug overdoses and
drug poisoning. They also forgot to mention the toll to the city's
neighborhoods from growing masses of street people who spend every penny
they can get on drugs and alcohol.

If Newsom's measure can save 100 lives a year and make our neighborhoods
cleaner and safer, isn't it worth a try -- at least as a first step in the
right direction?

ARTHUR EVANS

San Francisco