TOUCHY-FEELY POLICIES WON'T HELP ADDICTS

The four-pillars policy to deal with drug addiction is commendable.
However, if there is inadequate funding to build the concrete foundation
required to support these pillars, drug problems will continue to ruin the
lives of thousands and destroy the fiber of our communities.

Money must be spent, now. Get the social workers off the front lines and
put some been-there-done-that people in leadership so they can cut through
the political B.S. Time is wasting. People are dying. Treatment facilities
are under-funded or non-existent.

At the same time all this touchy-feely talk is happening, governments at
all levels are reducing funding to the few facilities that are actually
treating addicts.

As a recovered addict/alcoholic, I wish to inform unsuspecting politicians
and members of the public that methadone is every bit as addictive as
heroin, if not more so. Some treatment facilities must be allowed to use a
completely drug-free model for their programs. As long as addicts need a
fix -- be it alcohol, Aspirin, Tylenol, heroin, methadone or whatever --
they are still practising addicts. Only when they have become free of drugs
can they fully recover.EE

There must be room for all manner of treatment programs, including harm
reduction. I can only hope that one day we will legalize drugs and treat
addiction as the sickness it is.

Don MacKay

Burnaby