DRUGS TAKING TOLL ON FAMILIES, COMMUNITIES

Dear Editor:

Re: July 19, Leo Knight's article Free drugs for addicts would be Kwan's folly.

I congratulate and applaud Mr. Knight for his article. It is time for
all of us to simply say "No more!" Minster Kwan's muddle-headed
thinking is dangerous to point of being criminally negligent. Drugs
kill people and ruin families. Painting her daisy on this epidemic
will not change that fact.

Our communities and neighbourhoods are suffering from the costs of
drug addiction yet the answer of the Jenny Kwans of the world to this
problem is free drugs and "safe injection sites." In other words,
surrender. Oh no, silly me. How could Jenny, the artist, Kwan
understand anything about the true cost of addiction?

These costs include the destruction of families through the loss of
their children to drug abuse, prostitution, disease, and death, to say
nothing about "home invasions."

There is also a huge medical care cost resulting from viral and
bacteriological infections. The incidence of infection is increasing
exponentially regardless of the "harm reduction" and "needle
exchanges" programs. Eventually it will bankrupt our health-care
infrastructure.

The federal and the provincial governments are moving away from the
answer and toward the advocating of "free heroin" and "safe fixing
sites." Yes, what an alcoholic needs is free alcohol and safe place to
drink and pass out! What happened to "No?"

Free drugs and "safe fixing sites" just will not do. The answer, alas
not theirs, is rooted in a strong belief in the basic worth and
resilience of people. We must develop and fund an effective
detoxification and rehabilitation program with real jobs waiting for
the successful graduates.

We need a five-point plan to deal with this epidemic:

* The federal and provincial governments must provide the necessary
funding to provide for the development of a comprehensive continuum of
drug detox and rehab programs throughout the province, with centers in
the Fraser Valley, the Cariboo, and on Vancouver Island.

* The premier and attorney general of this province must create a
meaningful drug court system where the object is to change behavior,
not to punish. In other words, there has to be effective
rehabilitation options for the court to consider.

* The premier and attorney general of this province must use his power
and influence to create and properly fund an effective drug
detoxification and rehabilitation model, which is focused on the
principles of recovery and abstinence.

* The UBCM request that premier of this province ensure that along
with the components of "drug detoxification, self concept
rehabilitation, meaningful job training, industry and business are
financially encouraged to provide employment opportunities for the
graduates of the program. In other words, significant "tax brakes."

* The federal government must enact legislation which will allow for
the purging of all criminal (drug) history of the successful
graduates of the program who have remained "clean and sober" for a
period of two years after treatment. Drug traffickers and importers
must be prosecuted and sentenced to the full extent of the law. This
means, simply, to give the guilty person the full sentence as provided.

Douglas MacKay-Dunn

North Vancouver District Councillor