GET PEOPLE OFF DRUGS

I applaud the moratorium on the drug resource centre. Mr. Owen
imposed it because businesses have woken up to the fact that so-called
harm reduction strategies offer little but a giving up on drug abuse.

The harsh fact is that drugs and drug use are not "values neutral."
Drugs can and do hurt people. They hurt families. They exact a huge
cost, not just in dollars.

And drug addiction is not just some lifestyle choice. It is
destructive. We need to be talking about what we might do to better
help people get off of drugs and to rebuild their lives. This is where
we are falling down, not in failing to build safe shooting houses and
other measures to make addicts comfortable.

To give up offers no real compassion or dignity. Doing whatever it
takes to get people out of the environment of drugs, and off drugs,
does display compassion.

And let's remember, the collective actions we take are the loudest
message we give our children. What message does harm reduction send?

Harm reduction as promoted by many today is cop-out realism at its
worst. And it is good that people are beginning to realize this.

Colin R. Mangham is Director of Prevention Source, BC, Vancouver