Other recommended goals include expanded efforts to draw drug users into treatment; equitable distribution of drug treatment facilities throughout our communities; and increased Federal, State, and local funding supplemented by increased private funding. AIDS, drug use, poverty, and community opposition to treatment facilities are all interconnected. National bodies have all identified intervention in the link between drug use and AIDS as crucial. However, the most formidable barrier to breaking this link lies in pervasive beliefs that the available interventions will not work or are not worth the effort or the money. It is essential to recognize both that addiction is a problem with medical, psychological, economic, and social dimensions and that drug abuse treatment may reduce HIV transmission both through the reduction of needle sharing and through control of sexual behavior. Expansion of a range of drug treatment options is needed, and voluntary counseling and access to HIV testing should be offered as part of treatment. 50 references.