FREE NEEDLES FOR ADDICTS, BUT NOTHING FOR DIABETICS

Re: "Young son's diabetes diagnosis devastating," letter, June 2.

The letter was a good response to the article in the newspaper a few
days earlier.

As someone diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age six, I related to
it personally. People with diseases like cancer, juvenile diabetes,
kidney disease, etc. didn't have a choice. We can't just turn around
and change it.

I think this is the main reason I'm against the needle
exchange.

I am all for fixing the homeless and drug addiction problem in Canada,
but this doesn't make sense to me. Instead of helping people to get
off drugs, we're assisting them to continue.

Yes, it is safer and helps to stop the spread of HIV. They get
counselling if they request it, and so on, but it is still assisting
rather than stopping.

If my mom hadn't been able to get help from PharmaCare when I was a
child and I wasn't now covered under Blue Cross, we would have been
forking out the full amount for my needles for the last 14 years. If I
were unable to get coverage for my supplies, or pay for my supplies, I
would be refused by the needle exchange.

Why? I am a diabetic, I am not an addict. Therefore, I cannot receive
needles from a government organization even if I was a desperate
situation. I have a life-long disease that requires multiple insulin
injections daily to survive. According to the government, this doesn't
mean I should have access to free needles.

If I had no coverage, should I start shooting up heroin to get free
needles for my diabetes?

Natalie Woods

Victoria