TORY DRUG PLAN: NAIVE OR OVERDUE?

Re: Tories to shun 'safe drug' sites, May 23.

As a nurse who works in the inner city of Vancouver, I am constantly
surrounded by people experiencing unimaginable suffering and pain who
are living with the scourge of addiction. I hope that Prime Minister
Stephen Harper, as he unveils his drug policy initiative, doesn't
forget that needle exchanges save lives, and that the Insite
supervised injection site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside has a role
to play in a comprehensive drug strategy that's made in Canada.

A naive, simplistic and politically motivated plan -- which retreats
from harm-reduction methods in favour of getting tough on illicit
drugs -- will ultimately cost the lives of hundreds of human beings.
Let's hope that the gains we have made in treating humanity as worthy
of real treatment will last. Now, however, I fear that fear itself
will lead us back into the cave.

Kim Markel

registered nurse with the Portland Hotel Society, which operates
Insite, Vancouver.