NO QUICK FIX FOR ADDICTS

As a medical student in my final year at the University of Calgary, I
find federal Health Minister Tony Clement's labelling of physicians
as "unethical" for supporting Vancouver's safe injection site to be
sadly ill-informed.

Having a safe place to inject drugs does not encourage people to
become addicts and provides a controlled environment for homeless
users who might otherwise use public sites for their unscrupulous
activities. Additionally, the sterile, single-use needles provided at
the safe injection site helps stymie the spread of blood-borne
diseases and could save the health-care system millions in future
care. Furthermore, addicts who were previously unknown to the system
are connected with valuable addiction resources.

Ideally, a cure for addiction would be greatly more desirable than
injection sites; however, as there is no quick fix-it drug for
addiction, we must be practical in our approach to drug use.

John Nguyen, Calgary