LET'S TAKE BACK NEIGHBOURHOODS FROM THE ADDICTS

Re: Special report: Ottawa's dirty little secret, June 19 to 24.

Score is now 4-1. No it's not a soccer score -- that's way too high
for a soccer game! The number is four cars broken into or the one
attempted break-in within the past five weeks in our condo parking
lot. Yes, as indicated in the Citizen's special report, I live in the
epicentre of the drug addiction problem, the ByWard Market.

I applaud the Ottawa police for their crackdown on the dealers.
However, what happens to the addicts when the dealers are taken off
the street. Does the value of drugs go up because of the lack of
distributors? Do the addicts need to steal more to get that extra cash
to purchase their next fix?

And what about these addicts? Why are they still walking the streets?
Should we as a society accept that these people be left on to their
own to do (as the Citizen reports) "steal from cars, shoplift and sell
their bodies" to feed their addictions? Is it not our responsibility
as citizens of this city to take whatever action is necessary, first,
to provide the addicts with help and, second, provide us, the
citizens, with sense of security in our neighbourhood?

This may seem a harsh solution, but maybe it's time to forcibly remove
the addicts off the street and place them into a detox clinic. The
police and social agencies know who they are. It wouldn't be hard to
round them up and send them, even if it's against their will, to a
detox centre. This will give those who want to get off their
addictions but are unable to take that first step a chance of
survival. Sure, some will never be able to resist the lure to return
to drugs, but I suspect, a good number of them will take the
opportunity to get off their addictions and start living again.

As Police Chief Vern White stated, "The number of addicts is growing
at an alarming rate."

It's time we take back our neighbourhoods. We should not accept that
addicts be left on their own to terrorize us.

Pierre Desjardins,

Ottawa