DEATH, NOT CLEAN NEEDLES, THE SOLUTION

Re: Needle program a hot issue, page 3, Nov. 2.

Prisoners are going to get a needle exchange program. How much is this
going to cost me, the law-abiding taxpayer? I thought prison was
supposed to be a place of punishment? This is a joke.

These people should have to take their chances, and if they get HIV or
hepatitis C, all the better because they will die prematurely and my
tax dollars will no longer have to feed, clothe, or pay for the many
wonderful amenities our laughable correctional institutions offer.

Why not give our corrections officers the stab-proof vests they have
been asking for instead? Why not offer all this money to those who
struggle to make ends meet, but do so legally?

There are those who may point out that the inmates that contract these
diseases will never have a chance to be productive members of society
when they get out. Reality check here ladies and gents. If one is
sitting in jail continuing to break the law by consuming drugs,
chances are pretty slim that one will suddenly become a law-abiding
pillar of the community when released.

These diseases actually may be a good way to lower the repeat offense
rate. After all, Jimmy Thug can't bop old ladies over the head during
a B and E if he is too ill to lift a baseball bat, can he?

As for spreading the diseases past the walls of prison; using drugs is
a choice, sharing needles is a choice. All addicts in or out of jail
know the risks, if they choose to take them, so be it.

Maybe they will all wipe themselves out, and free up our judicial
resources to stop the flow of these dangerous drugs at their source,
and free up resources to educate and put programs into place to stop
young people from even trying these drugs in the first place. There
are only two cures for addiction, one is prevention, and the other is
death.

Heather Hepburn

Abbotsford