A Message to You, Rudy
Riddle me this: Is Gotham's mayor the Iceman or just a joker?

What's it take to get on New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani's shit list? Not much, it seems. The latest group targeted by the mayor's vaunted "quality of life" campaign are recovering heroin addicts who take methadone. This summer, Giuliani came up with a proposal to wean patients off methadone treatment and into abstinence-based programs within 90 days. His plan could phase out the estimated 2,000 methadone-treatment slots in city-run public hospitals and the 4,300 slots in city jails. As of late September many of these hospital programs were turning away new enrollees. He also wants 30,000 private patients to quit methadone.

The mayor's program has enraged an already angry populace, including AIDS activists. Taking their message to the streets, at least 150 protesters gathered at city hall in Manhattan on the first day of fall to tell the mayor that methadone saves lives-not destroys them. The action was sponsored by the newly formed Coalition for Metha-done Choice (www.factadvocates.org). Speakers included state assemblyman Richard Gottfried who stressed that methadone is a scientifically proven, highly successful medical treatment for heroin addiction. Today, some 115,000 U.S. heroin users are taking methadone, but there are long waiting lists in many states to enter drug-treatment programs.

Studies show that patients receiving methadone maintenance are less likely to share needles, making them three to six times less likely to contract HIV.

Ironically, Giuliani's proposal has produced an odd alliance. U.S. drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who opposes federally funded needle exchange, sides with AIDS activists on this one. The problem isn't too many methadone programs, agrees McCaf-frey; in reality, there are too few. In September, McCaffrey proposed a plan to expand access to methadone by allowing selected doctors to prescribe it to their patients.

You'd think crime stopper Giuliani would see it another way. Methadone treatment has been found to promote stability by keeping patients off the streets, reducing crime, and allowing them to lead productive lives. Protester Brenda Roman, a recovering addict on methadone, states emphatically, "We're working, running households, doing our thing!"

If that ain't quality of life, what is?

-Cindra Feuer