DRUG USERS BELONG IN THE CITY, TOO

Re: If we have to care for addicts, at least move them along, Voice of the
People, May 9

Many of us working outreach in the Downtown Eastside, here for the
17th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm,
found the letter from Gerard Lain quite offensive: offensive in his
attitude that drug users are somehow outside the mainstream and the
stigma perpetuated by individuals who have no clue as to the limited
number of treatment beds available and the continued harm caused by
incarceration of non-violent drug offenders.

Lain describes single parents, working many jobs to survive, who are
denied needed support in preference to drug users needs. I am one of
those hard-working single parents, whose entire family does volunteer
work as well.

There is no Nirvana. Wake up and understand Vancouver is for everyone.
What affects one affects us all.

Rebecca Brooks

Vandu volunteer

London Harm Reduction Coalition

London, Ont.