ADAMS SHOULD BE MORE UNDERSTANDING

Editor, The Record:

At the All Candidates meeting held on Sept. 18, Dave Adams included the
remark "And now we have a methadone clinic" in his list of complaints about
the current state of the downtown core.

A qualified pharmacist is filling prescriptions ordered by qualified
physicians. Neither a pharmacist nor any other person has the right to
countermand a physician's choice of medication for his patient. To
represent a pharmacist's performance of his bounded duty as running
"methadone clinic" is an inflammatory distortion of the facts.

Yes, drug dealers are criminals who should be hunted down and punished,
particularly those who deliberately target our youngsters. Drug users
though are victims of those criminals. They have at least recognized their
need for help and should be encouraged not vilified.

Dave, it is distressing to hear you, a respected downtown businessman
demonstrate such a lack of understanding of and compassion for these
unfortunate individuals. If you have managed to go through life without one
of your loved ones becoming caught in the drug net, you should be thanking
God for your good fortune.

Jenny Stevens, Mission