OUR DRUG-ADDICTED CRIMINALS NEED PROPER TREATMENT

We admit we were skeptical about the trip. But perhaps the $40,000 it
cost to send various Surrey city officials and other community
worthies to Britain to examine how its big cities were combatting
crime, wasn't such a waste of money after all.

They seem to have come back to B.C. with some fresh ideas about how
to tackle law-breaking and its main causes, namely drugs and poverty.

Indeed, as Province columnist Brian Lewis points out, the successful
crime-reduction strategy in British cities like London and Liverpool
is based on the premise that crime, drugs and poverty are inextricably linked.

Upon their arrest, crime suspects there are immediately tested for
drugs. And those found under their influence are placed immediately
into a drug-treatment program. Failure to take treatment generally
leads to a heavy sentence upon conviction.

Now, much is made of the Four Pillars approach to Vancouver's huge
drug problem. It's a strategy that's supposed to be wide-ranging. But
most of the emphasis here seems to be on such programs as the
so-called safe-injection site that keep addicts on drugs while
reducing the harm they cause.

Judging by the British experience, though, what really works is to
give them a compelling incentive to get off drugs and get immediate treatment.

Simply giving them a "safe" place in which to shoot up is just
papering over a deeply festering sore.