NEEDLE LADY ENABLING DRUG USERS

Every good parent knows that Beth Wehrman is wrong.

Say you catch your kid playing with matches. You could say, "Gee, he seems
to be enjoying himself, and he might do it again." You could let him
continue to light matches but give him a fire extinguisher to reduce his
risk of injury.

Of course, you wouldn't do that. You'd be nuts.

And that's why Beth Wehrman is wrong.

Wehrman has been distributing free hypodermic needles to drug users on the
South Side. She's called "the needle lady," but she might as well be known
as Peoria's Pied Piper of Heroin, for wherever she goes, addicts follow.

That doesn't endear her to homeowners when she sets up shop, parking her
car on neighborhood streets and alleys to hand out syringes to throngs of
drug abusers.

A loophole in the state law allows her this right as part of a "research"
program. On paper, she says, she follows users' habits while exchanging new
needles for dirty ones.

One problem is, it's not a one-for-one deal: she doesn't demand all needles
back, so many end up littering the South End, posing a health risk for
curious kids and unwary pedestrians.

Tonight, the City Council will consider limiting free-

needle distribution to buildings, effectively kicking Wehrman off the
street. She says she can't work effectively that way, because she needs to
hit the streets and connect with addicts in case they want to quit.

But this argument goes way beyond discarded needles and impromptu crowds.
It's a matter of common sense and right versus wrong.

Wehrman - a Quad Cities nurse working for two health organizations, neither
of them in Peoria - and her supporters tout the program as a matter of
public health: Clean needles contain the spread of disease.

That's true - to an extent. Even she admits addicts reuse her new needles.
They don't stay new very long, as addicts aren't too fussy about what they
jab into their arm.

It's not that I'm totally cold-hearted about drug addiction. People make
stupid decisions, and they need help.

But you don't help someone by enabling them. Wehrman's program just
eliminates the unwanted consequences, and thus the disincentive to stop bad
behavior.

It's a simple concept. Before making a decision, you weigh pros and cons.
Before alighting a tightrope of risky behavior, first realize that a
slip-up might bring a painful landing.

Wehrman wants to be there with a net, to eliminate or curtail any sense of
peril. That doesn't help get people off drugs -it gives them a reason to
stay on drugs. Less risk means less reason to quit.

Plus, how far do you extend Wehrman's argument? Some dealers sell drugs
that are too strong or mixed with other drugs, thus creating a potential
danger to the user. By Wehrman's way of thinking, she should give measured,
quality-controlled drugs to addicts just to make sure they don't overdose.

And think of other unsavory behaviors. Maybe Wehrman wants to branch out
her social concern. After all, gang-bangers take risks every day. Perhaps
she can distribute bullet-proof vests to give bangers a better chance of
survival during the next turf war.

I don't doubt Wehrman's heart is in the right place. I do wonder where her
brains are.