LET'S SPREAD HARM REDUCTION WIDER

POWELL RIVER - A crack-smoking room at the supervised injection site
to give addicts a clean place to use their drug of choice and reduce
the spread of disease?

This is harm reduction?

I think not.

Instead of recognizing chronic, hard-core drug users as incapacitated
people in desperate need of help and coming up with a way to force
them into treatment, we engage in stopgap measures that do little more
than condemn people who are sick to remain locked in a cycle of
degradation.

Sure, you can have pamphlets and on-site counsellors, and hope some of
the addicts will access existing services, but that's like expecting
someone who's mentally incompetent to initiate treatment on their own.

Why not put all the addiction dollars currently being spent toward an
isolated treatment centre and enact mandatory treatment
legislation?

Impossible? Perhaps.

Too simplistic? Of course.

But supporting an addict in a chosen lifestyle certainly isn't the
answer. Besides, in our rush to legitimize such a destructive way of
life, aren't we overlooking the impact drug addiction has on others?

I suggest we give at least equal consideration to those who are
victimized, sometimes brutally, in crimes perpetrated by drug addicts
looking to finance their next fix.

How about some harm reduction for them?