ADDICTS DESERVE UNDERSTANDING, NOT INSULTS

Re. May 15 letter from Kelly Dornfield, headlined Forget treatment, arrest
the druggies:

Wow, there's progressive thinking for you! Maybe while we're at it, we can
flog some alcoholics and burn some witches.

Having worked as a detox counsellor, and now as a business owner, I
understand that maybe a stronger hand may be needed to deal with the drug
issues that have cropped up in Red Deer in the last little while, but let
us be a little more reasonable.

Red Deer is a growing community, and with growth comes growing pains.
People with drug and alcohol problems are exactly that: people with
problems, not the scourge of society.

They are our sons, daughters, fathers and mothers, not to be cast aside
like trash. Would Dornfield be so quick to banish someone if it was his
child or loved one? I think not.

I think Red Deer is wide awake and well aware of the issues that have
appeared with our growing drug problem.

Criminal checks for everyone? Does Dornfield really want people to look
that closely into his background? No skeletons in his family closet?

Life is hard and some of us fall to the wayside. Creating a police state is
not the answer to our troubles.

I think if Dornfield checked the stats he would find that there are more
problems with excessive alcohol abuse than drugs. So do we now tell every
alcoholic and prescription drug abuser to report to the police station so
we can keep tabs on them, too?

It's wrong to brand a part of our community as outcasts. People sometimes
just need help and should not be thrown away like trash.

John Read, Red Deer