TAXPAYERS WON'T GO FOR SAFE INJECTIONS SITES WITHOUT TREATMENT

To the editor:

In light of the recent poll concerning the provision of safe injection
sites for addicts, Mayor Larry Campbell had better make sure that strict
records are kept of the number of addicts using the site.

This would include how many of them have been persuaded to take treatment,
and having done so, how many have returned to drug-free and productive
lives. Unless these figures are forthcoming within a reasonable period,
public support will quickly disappear.

The taxpayer is already spending great amounts of money on the needle
exchange program and yet the drug problem has got worse and needles are
being scattered on our streets and in our school yards. The addict
community also still has the highest rate of new AIDS cases.

The poll results show that although the public is willing to give the new
program a try, taxpayers are not interested in merely supplying a place
where addicts can continue their destructive habit.

I would suggest that the majority of taxpayers are willing to have their
money go towards rescuing addicts from their addictions, provided that a
certain amount of responsibility is shown toward making use of the help.

Elvey Martin,

Vancouver