PREVENTION IS MUCH BETTER THAN JAIL TIME

Re: "Theft lands Island man six years," (Alberni Valley Times, Jan. 20)

On the surface it might make sense to give Bill Watts of Port Alberni
a six-year jail sentence for his string of armed robberies, but this
hard line does not get to the underlining root of the problem.

With credit for time served he will be out in four years, perhaps
still addicted to alcohol and hard drugs and likely committing
robbery again, or some other crime, to support his habit like break
and enter. At the cost of $80,000 a year to keep him in federal
prison plus the cost or prosecuting him and cost to the five business
he robbed, being tough on crime is not always the most prudent way of
dealing with addicts.

Counselling and rehab is cheaper than the alternative, and the only
way of solving the problem in the long term. Without drug and alcohol
rehab, Watts may remain in a perpetual cycle of being in and out of
jail the rest of his life, costing us untold hundreds of thousands,
maybe millions of dollars.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Andre Mollon

Langford