THWART DRUG TRADE BEFORE IT HITS THE STREETS

I think that putting more police patrols in the Downtown Eastside to
prevent drug trafficking is akin to shutting the barn door after the
horse is out (Police crackdown has cut drug use, expert doctor says,
May 6). Such a police presence will likely just move the drug trade to
another section of town. The only way to combat the drug trade is to
stop the drugs at the source.

The Canadian government needs to hire more police and customs
inspectors and have more drug-sniffing dogs at the borders, airports
and the ports of Vancouver. More police are also needed on the vice
squad investigating suspected meth and other drug labs and monitoring
organized crime activities. We need to stop the drugs from coming into
Canada in the first place and we need to stop the production of drugs
in Canada.

Only by using these methods will the drug problems that face the
Downtown Eastside actually improve.

Katherine Boylen

Delta