NEEDLE EXCHANGES ENABLE SELF-DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOUR

My grandmother used to live on Pembroke Street, five blocks from the
current needle exchange. Thirty years ago, I could walk from her house
to Saint Andrew's Elementary.

Now the streets have been surrendered to the hopeless and homeless. We
enable illegal activity and then wonder why the police cannot keep the
streets safe. We allow fellow human beings to exist in a state that
only the most idealistic can call a life, in support of harm
reduction. The result is a city blighted by homeless, littered by
waste and slowly sinking into anarchy.

We have many people in this city one paycheque from poverty, yet we
continue to expend resources on those who insist on self-destructive
behavior.

Addicted individuals lack the ability to make rational choices for
themselves. In a society that truly believes in reducing harm, the
community must stand up and say no more. When people are no longer
able to adequately care for themselves, society must step in and stop
the destructive behaviour, for the good of the individual and the
needs of the community.

Say no to a needle exchange. It is time to reopen those places where
people who have repeatedly demonstrated their inability to care for
themselves can be cared for, where those who choose to do themselves
harm can be protected and where those who do not have a home can at
least have a bed, a regular meal and some structure in their chaotic
existence.

Lance Morgan,

Victoria