AS THE MORAL BATTLE RAGES, INSITE SAVES LIVES

One small point seems to be missing from the letters sent to The
Province regarding Insite, Vancouver's drug-injection site.

While doctors, nurses and community workers try to unravel a very
complex problem affecting human beings in compromised physical and
mental health, Insite is there to make sure these addicts don't die
of an overdose.

Are we forgetting in this moral battle the importance of maintaining
human life?

What should we do with people who are not ready to quit? Stand by and
let them die?

Should we let them use water from urine-infested rain puddles to
shoot poison into their arms?

No one has said that harm-reduction works on its own. But it must be
part of the strategy to end drug addiction or people will literally
die on the street.

We don't want to admit that our morality permits this -- do we?

Guinevere Pencarrick

Vancouver