DECLARE ARREST FREE ZONES

Dear Sir:

Your editorial "Straight talk" properly defends Secretary of State Colin
Powell for stating that sexually active young people should use condoms for
protection against the deadly AIDS virus. The federal government also
advocates syringe exchanges and methadone treatment.

Lancaster County has one of the highest HIV / AIDS and heroin addiction
rates in the State. We also experience a tragic number of overdose deaths.

The immediate cause of overdosing (deaths) isn't the drugs, since there is
approximately a three-hour window of opportunity to obtain treatment before
death occurs. Rather young people die because their friends are afraid to
seek medical assistance for fear of arrest and spending years in prison!

To protect our loved ones, we should declare the emergency ward of every
hospital an arrest free zone and instruct hospital personnel to only ask
questions relevant to treatment.

It is also important that families and friends of addicts have access to
professional advice on how to best cope with this very complex and trying
situation. Andrew Byrne, an Australian physician specializing in addiction
treatment, has written an informative and readily comprehensible book that
can be both read and downloaded at www.addictinthefamily.org.

HIV/ AIDS and hepatitis are the greatest public health problems of our
times. I believe it is both our moral and religious obligation to recognize
reality and pursue practical ways to reduce harm to drug abusers and to
safeguard the general public.

Robert E. Field

Co-Chair, Common Sense for Drug Policy www.csdp.org