TREATING CRACK ADDICTS REQUIRES NEW APPROACH

Trading Sex For Crack Ranks High As The Cause Of Sexual Transmission Of
Syphilis And HIV/AIDS.

North Carolina ranks fourth nationwide for HIV/AIDS -- yet our heads are
still stuck in the sand.

Crack addiction has never been adequately recognized. It defies all logic,
especially to those who deny or remain ignorant of its distinct chemical
properties, impact on brain functioning and disease process.

Passing out condoms helps prevent transmission but is only a Band-Aid --
doing nothing to address the real reason for the sex.

Treatment and funding priorities have never adjusted to meet the crack
challenge.

We must have appropriate treatment -- not detox over and over again.

Most treatment professionals do not acknowledge the need for more intensive
treatment modalities. "A drug is a drug" does not apply to crack addiction.

Federal and North Carolina treatment priorities must be changed, and crack
addiction should be a top priority.

We need to approach the total issue -- effect on crime, courts, prisons,
probation, domestic violence, families, social services and, especially,
HIV/AIDS and syphilis.

Our entire community is at risk daily. Hundreds of our families are in
constant crisis. No race or class is immune.

They do not understand this addiction and are ashamed because crack
addiction carries more stigma than HIV/AIDS.

There has never been a comprehensive strategy to snap this drug's costly
cycle of destruction.

A letter to the editor in The Wall Street Journal (April 28, 1994) said:
"...Evils such as crack have an unfortunately bright future in America due
to our ignorance about their potency."

It is now eight years later.

We need a committed, coordinated approach to this epidemic now.

Susan Mills, Greensboro