BAND-AID BETTER THAN NO AID

Plans to open a second needle exchange location on a trial basis in
downtown Penticton deserve a fair chance.

Penticton, despite its small town stature, is far from immune to the
problems connected to drug use and addiction.

While some may choose to think the problems associated with drug addiction
happen only in larger centres, our community is just as vulnerable.

And the community has a responsibility to ensure that those with
drug-use-related issues get the help they need.

Interior Health hopes to run a pilot project out of the Penticton Outreach
Centre to assess health-related needs and services. That downtown location
will enable them to reach more of the people who need their help.

Though they have social implications, drug and alcohol addiction are health
issues.

While the police and courts play a role in combating the underground
economy at the root of the drug problem, they are not equipped to help
users overcome their addictions.

They also cannot ensure that they aren't sharing a needle with someone who
has HIV/AIDS or another disease transmitted intravenously.

Critics may argue that "harm-reduction" methods of dealing with drug users
are Band-Aids in the absence of adequate additction treatment programs.

And they would be right.

But at this point in our province, people wait for months for treatment of
a health issue that often doesn't allow its suffers that much leeway.

Needle exchange and street nursing programs aren't the answer to the drug
problem, but they at least reduce the risks associated with sharing needles.

And denying them that service is akin to refusing to teach sex education to
youth because you think it will encourage promiscuity. Intravenous drug
users are no less deserving of basic medical services than are others
suffering from a host of other "unpopular" diseases.

The needle exchange operating at the Penticton Health Unit is among the
most basic of medical services we can offer to those we haven't yet found a
way to cure.

Expanding it into the downtown area, at least for three months, where many
of local drug users live, will upset some people living and working in the
area.

Their anticipated cries of "Not in my backyard" should not be dismissed.

But ignoring the problem is not an option either.

The cost of maintaining the status quo in this case could be deadly.