CLEMENT ON DRUGS WHEN IT COMES TO INSITE

To the editor:

Let me get this straight. In his speeches attacking Insite, Tony
Clement has been quoting somebody who shares his point of view
("Health Minister cites VPD cop in Insite attack," June 27).

Was anyone surprised at this? I mean, it's not like it's a big deal
for Clement to find someone in his ideological camp to support his
arguments. It's pretty sad that the best he could come up with was
some police officer who is clearly ignorant about drug dependency, who
seems completely unfamiliar with current health research and who is
out of step with modern policing. What is surprising and disturbing is
that he gets to talk about it in a VPD uniform, suggesting that his
views are shared by the department.

No, it would have been truly surprising, not to mention newsworthy, if
Minister Clement had cited credible research in his speeches. It would
have been an unanticipated shock if, following some critical thinking,
he made a distinction between his private beliefs and public
responsibilities, and based his decisions solely on the assembled
evidence and demonstrated best practices.

But no, someone stop me. I'm getting giddy. What was that saying about
flying pigs again?

James Tigchelaar,
Vancouver