INSITE CONDONES CRIME, HARMS US ALL

To the editor:

I am a fiscal moderate and a social liberal. I do not support Stephen
Harper, but I am absolutely against Insite--period! So it's
frustrating for me to keep seeing the discussion of Insite
politicized, as it was yet again in Allen Garr's Sept 24 editorial
("Ladner jabbed for Insite stance"), in which he suggested that Ladner
and Capri are critiquing Insite in order to attract the right wing of
the party.

I read, on a pro-Insite website (Vancouver Coastal Health), about the
benefits of Insite--that it reduces injection litter, teaches drug
users safer injection practices, eliminates deaths by overdose, and
results in more addicts entering detox programs. Let's put this in
some perspective.

Litter reduction: That's very funny--a serious problem concerning
illegal drugs is litter. "Hey, we just hit an iceberg, let's
re-arrange the deck chairs!"

Safer injection practices and overdose deaths: Let's face reality
here--drug addicts are killing themselves. Making sure an addict is
using a clean needle is like making sure that someone committing
suicide isn't using a rusty knife to slit their wrists. As for
overdoses, that's the difference between addicts killing themselves
all at once or piece by piece.

Detox programs: While it's good to see addicts signing up, I would be
more interested in seeing the success rate of these programs. I
suspect it's pretty hard to stay clean when you're right in the middle
of illicit drug use 24-7.

When I see Insite, I see a program that condones, if not fosters,
criminal activity. Heroin and cocaine are illegal, remember? And how
were these drugs obtained? Most of the time through the proceeds of
crime: theft, trafficking, prostitution. So, if you support Insite,
you are supporting crime.

I hate seeing people destroying themselves with drugs, but they're
doing it to themselves. They made the conscious decision to start
using drugs. That wound is self-inflicted, but we all get to feel the
pain.

John Aveline

Vancouver