INSITE NOT THE ANSWER FOR ADDICTS

Re: It Works, Thomas Kerr, May 30. Thomas Kerr is not an objective observer
of the Insite clinic in Vancouver, as he used to be a lobbyist for the
facility. Due to this conflict of interest, it is not surprising that he and
his team have published over two dozen positive studies about the facility.
These studies have been peer reviewed only by those who support harm
reduction, which presupposes that addicts will not stop using drugs. They
have also refused to release their data so that other researchers can verify
their results.

Mr. Kerr tried to discredit a report from the B.C. government -which
stated that since the site opened, the area has seen an increase in
drug-induced deaths every year -by claiming that it included deaths
unrelated to drug use. Yet, the report definitively states that all
the deaths were from drug overdoses.

Two dozen major European cities have also experimented with injection
sites. They signed a declaration in 1994 opposing them and calling for
them to be banned because of the problems they caused.

Treatment is the only solution to drug addiction. Addicts are human
beings who deserve better than a drug-injection site, which only leads
to an early and horrific death.

C. Gwendolyn Landolt, president, Drug Prevention Network of Canada,

Richmond Hill, Ont.