DRUG TESTING PREJUDICIAL

I AM disgusted with the opposition to the drug and literacy testing
for those in our society who are not gainfully employed.

Do these poverty activists, Liberal and NDP party members live with
their collective heads in the sand?

As someone who has battled with addiction and has attended OHIP-funded
rehabilitation centres, I can say with conviction that I am eternally
grateful to my employer for intervening when it was apparent I had a
problem. Only when I was faced with the choice of losing my paycheque
or getting help did I realize how far I had sunk into the abyss.

With the support of the people I met and my loved ones I have been
able to rebuild my life, reconcile my family and regain my self respect.

Do other people not deserve a chance for recovery simply because they
are on welfare?! Should we abandon those who are impeded from becoming
productive and happy members of our society simply because they do not
have an employer?

I beg all the people, politicians and organizations who have spent
their time opposing this initiative to channel their effort and energy
into ensuring the program is run in a fair and compassionate manner.

EVERYBODY deserves a chance!

S. Tahk

(Absolutely)

MIKE HARRIS is one gutless individual. Rather than act like the true
conservative he is supposed to be and abolish welfare altogether, he
prefers to take the coward's way out and bleed the program slowly to
death. Welfare is sapping the confidence and strength of our people.
Let's end it.

Alan Randell
Victoria, B.C.

(Imagine the outcry)

PREMIER MIKE Harris has failed to consider that driving drug use
underground only compounds the problem. The plan to coerce welfare
recipients into drug treatment will have the perverse effect of
forcing addicts to suffer in silence. The drug tests used to enforce
this misguided policy could very well compel pot smokers to resort to
heroin and crack to avoid detection. Marijuana is the only drug that
stays in the body long enough to make urinalysis a deterrent. Harder
drugs are water-soluble and exit the human body within 48 hours or
less.

Robert Sharpe,
Program Officer,
Lindesmith Center/
Drug Policy Foundation,
Washington, DC

(There's an argument we hadn't heard before)

WITH REGARD to Ontario's new policy of testing their poorest citizens
for drugs, alcohol and literacy, I think the policy is somewhat
prejudicial. To be ethically and morally fair it is absolutely
essential that others who live off the taxpayers' money should be
subject to similar restraints. I would therefore propose that all
MPPs, from Premier Harris on down, should be subject to random drug
tests at least 12 times a year and they all should be given a high
school equivalent Canadian history and math test. Every failure should
be stripped of all wages and benefits until they can prove their
worthiness. Or do those with money or power have special rights in
Ontario?

Tom Balaski
Calgary

(MPPs are regularly tested, every four years. It's called an election)