Joe lives in the Downtown Eastside (Moratorium on facilities for drug
users, Aug. 10). He is one of the old-timers the Carnegie group
claims to represent - he is a senior, an alcoholic and will live out
the rest of his life in this neighbourhood.

Joe called one of the Gastown, Chinatown, Strathcona, Victory Square
Community Alliance members on Wednesday when they made their public
demands for equal policing and a halt to government money enabling
drug use in their communities. Joe said conditions on the street for
him are getting worse and worse. He uses a thick cane to get around,
and he said that he has to use it sometimes for things he should never
have to.

He offered the Community Alliance his total support; he offered to
donate money or whatever else was needed to further its aims and
demands. He thinks something must be done. Joe is one of many old
souls in the Downtown Eastside who have stepped out, risked their
safety and their housing, to offer this group their full support.

Lynne Bryson,
Vancouver