NO TEMPORARY ADDICTION

SISTER Bernie Galvin, of Religious Witness with Homeless People, objects to
using mostly vouchers, instead of cash, in providing welfare payments to
the homeless ("Newsom: No More Homeless Drug Money," The Examiner, Feb. 6).

No surprise there. But the remarkable thing is her cavalier attitude toward
drug addiction. Says Galvin: "People living lives of misery can easily fall
into seeking temporary relief."

There's nothing temporary or relief-giving about being a heroin addict. To
pretend otherwise is to become a codependent, adding momentum to the addiction.

Sad to say, that's what many of the city's so-called homeless advocates
have become, codependents. Their shortsightedness is hurting both addicts
and the larger community.

Arthur Evans, The City