TORIES MUST TACKLE ADDICTIONS

For a variety of reasons, Prince Albert suffers from substance abuse
problems and they are of a magnitude demanding immediate attention.

But this week the federal government made a move that suggests it has
no long-term vision.

Prince Albert is in the midst of a large-scale drug enforcement
operation that has so far yielded 18 arrests with more expected.

But are arrests enough?

Critics note the failure of law enforcement: the U.S. "war on drugs"
has hardly been successful, after all. Yet the alternative of
legalizing some of the substances currently wreaking havoc in our
community seems to many an inappropriate option.

We need alternatives and novel approaches.

Governments, once slow to build addictions treatment centres, are now
looking at treatment and prevention as a viable solution. Some success
has been noted, but not enough to make a measurable difference in
addiction rates and associated crime.

Somewhere in all of this, we - as a country - must create a viable
plan to deal with the growing problem of drug use and drug addiction.

The fate of addicts and communities with drug problems like Prince
Albert depends on what we, as a nation, decide to do.

Earlier this week, the B.C. Supreme Court rendered a decision that
effectively ensured continued operation of Insite, the legalized
drug-injection facility in Vancouver. More than 20 scientifically
accepted studies suggest that the facility can offer some form of
measurable benefit.

We can infer that from the federal government's rapid-fire decision to
appeal that decision that the Conservatives are not open to any form
of innovation on a challenging topic, despite proven evidence that the
safe-injection site has some role to play in an overall strategy.

But there isn't an overall strategy and the Tories are apparently not
interested in creating one. So far, the only wisp of a plan relies
largely on enforcement alone. While enforcement does play a role, it
hardly has a record of proven effectiveness.

Something else has to happen, but the mere inability of the current
government to explore potentially viable alternatives suggests to us
that we may be left dealing with a worsening problem without any new
tools to deal with it.