TREAT DRUG ADDICTS, DON'T KEEP THEM HOOKED

Re: City's users just say no to free drugs, March 15

With great sadness, I read that those of us who pay taxes are now heroin
dealers. As a culture, we certainly have gone a long way down the wrong
road. It is unconscionable that we would hand out to addicts the very drug
that has caused them so much pain and suffering. Can we not see that we are
giving up on those who suffer from addictions when we hoist hare-brained
programs on people who deserve better?

Why do we not spend our resources on programs that will help them break the
tyranny of drug use and live their lives clean and sober?

Spending $8.1 million for 158 addicts is a colossal waste of taxpayer
dollars. That kind of money would pay for drug and alcohol treatment, food,
shelter and a drug-free, safe environment for more than 960 people for one
full year in our recovery program. What are we doing? Have we lost our minds?

Rob C. Thiessen

Managing Director

Hope for Freedom Society

Port Coquitlam