EVERYBODY WINS WHEN EX-ADDICTS LEARN TO LIVE AGAIN

A great failing of current strategies to solve the problem of drug
addiction in B.C. is the near-absence of any long-term programs
catering to the needs of patients in recovery.

It is doubly disappointing then, that when a private initiative is
put forward offering such a program, it should encounter resistance
from within the community.

There is a danger of this happening in Surrey, where, as Kent Spencer
reported in The Province yesterday, former business tycoon John
Volken is proposing to build a $20-million "campus" in the Newton
area designed to teach life and job skills to recovering addicts.

Volken, 66, who sold his United Furniture Warehouse chain three years
ago, has since invested more than $100 million in pursuing his grand
scheme of social philanthropy.

A colleague says Volken is motivated by the precept that "you are
judged by how you treat the least of your brethren."

His present scheme, however, is opposed by some residents who fear it
will only aggravate existing social problems in the region.

Their view is short-sighted, inasmuch as that without the very
schemes such as Volken

proposes, the chances are that much greater that the ex-addicts will
be back on the streets, back on drugs.

By supporting this project, the community will not only be
demonstrating its compassion for those struggling to get their lives
back in order.

It will also be acting in its own self-interest.