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| 19 September 2000 - The San Diego Union-Tribune Perkins' column refuted on clean needle exchanges Re: "A needle exchange will do more harm than good" (Opinion, Sept 15): In 1983, two years after the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, Pat Buchanan penned a poisonous column on your opinion page gloating that AIDS was "God's revenge on Sodom and Gomorrah." It is sad that columnist Joseph Perkins invokes the same biblical specter of immorality to insult communities throughout the nation that have instituted a public safety policy to prevent another deadly epidemic with potential consequences far worse than AIDS. Perkins and Buchanan seem to believe that intolerance, lack of compassion, and supreme confidence in the face of abject ignorance are virtues to be proud of. - Dell Limjoco It's stunning that Perkins, conniving over the prospect of an enlightened social program to address the public health threat of blood-borne disease, would falsely state that our city leaders don't attempt to discourage drug abuse. It's disgraceful he'd say, "It matters not to them if junkies kill themselves on drugs." In truth, our political and public health officers constantly are seeking effective programs to address drug abuse. A needle exchange program is an ideal vehicle to bring intravenous drug users into contact with addiction recovery programs, as well as address the spread of disease. - Bill Hoffine Hooray for Perkins! Giving clean needles to junkies to shoot up is like handing someone suicidal a gun. It's saying, "Here, kill yourself. But please keep it clean for the sake of our public health. - Mary Ann Dunwell Perkins could provide only anecdotal evidence to rebut a National Academy of Sciences study that supports needle exchange programs, and apparently he has no evidence to refute the fact that these programs do not increase illegal drug usage. The goal of needle exchange programs is medical – to avoid an HIV epidemic. This is clearly in the best interest of all San Diego residents and is the reason why so many other metropolitan areas have such programs. - Roger Birks Article Snapshot (48K) |
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