American citizens are unsafely being exposed to drugs and drug addicts on the streets. When Americans step out of their homes, they are stepping out into streets that are filled with drugs and that is unacceptable. Steve Cook, president of the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys,claims that, "Anybody who lives in a community plagued by drugs can tell you that violence and drug trafficking are inseparable. The pain of addiction, the crime generated, the lost productivity and the costs to our health care system are immeasurable" (Cook par. 5). Americans are not only being exposed to crime generated by drugs but are also being affected by the loss of production in the community and the cost of healthcare being increased. Americans are exposed to drugs and see negative outcomes, but they are also being threatened by the drug addicts themselves. Drug addicts when high are not safe to be around because of their unpredictable behavior. Political scientist James Wilson asks the question, "How many [people] will be killed by coke- or heroin-addicted drivers if access to those products becomes as easy as access to alcohol is now?" (“Addiction and Substance Abuse*” par. 44). Wilson is rationalizing the fact that if drugs become more readily available there is no telling how dangerous roads are going to be because of drug users driving under the influence. Drug users have no control over their body’s actions. If the war on drugs were to continue the problem would eventually be solved, but there is another alternative: safe rooms. Safe places are a perfect solution for the ever-growing addiction problem. With the creation of safe rooms, American addicts would have somewhere safe to go where they would be monitored while doing the drugs that they would have ended up taking or using in the streets. An article in the New York Times, "Time for a Truce in the War on Drugs" explains the benefits of safe rooms, "Several countries already operate drug consumption rooms, where serious addicts can obtain and take heroin in a safe environment without fear of arrest" (Time for a Truce in the War on Drugs par. 7).In short, safe rooms are for drug addicts to take drugs safely and stay off the streets. Keeping addicts off the streets allows the American population as well as drug addicts to be safe. Safe rooms reduce the chance a drug addict is going to use a dirty needle and does not require them to chance being busted by illegally buying the drug on the streets (Time for a Truce in the War on Drugs par. 7). Safe rooms keep the drug addict from going to jail and the rooms also keep the drug addict from dying because of the monitoring that they receive from health professionals. Using drugs, such as opiates, is dangerous, especially when injected. A small amount of drug being injected goes a long ways in the sense of dosage. The answer to the problem is to decrease the abundant supply of cheap, potent heroin (Bennett and Walters par. 12).Safe rooms are the best option when considering a solution for the problem of addicts being in the streets exposing themselves to the American people. While safe rooms are a good solution an even better one would be a drug free world altogether.