DRUG ABUSE NEEDS MORE ATTENTION

Editor:

Last night I attended the crystal meth forum held at the Richmond
Inn, in response to your article in the paper on March 18.

I was saddened to see so few people from the community at this event.
I hear so much complaining about the problems that we are faced with
in our communities. We cannot expect our politicians to represent us
and handle all our problems.

The media does their best to keep us informed of the challenges we
face. I feel we must work together to be the best that we can be.

No man is an island and our social workers and elected officials need
all the help they can get. We need to start to listen to one another
and not only honour ourselves, we must also learn to honour others.

I am heartbroken to see so many individuals with such potential
destroying themselves with drugs. I don't like to ask myself, "What
are we going to do about the drugs?" as much as, "What can we do to
support individuals in having empowering beliefs that lead to healthy
habits rather than destructive addictions?"

This takes a great deal of awareness and the strength and courage to
turn our backs on the things that we know do not serve us or our
communities. We are all unique and have a right and a responsibility
to shine. Why would we choose to destroy ourselves? In my opinion the
most important question we can ask ourselves is, "What kind of a
human being am I being and why?"

If we've been wounded in life, I hope we will find the strength,
courage and wisdom to turn our scars into stars rather than choosing
to destroy ourselves or anyone else.

Bonnie Friesen

Richmond