DRUG CARTELS ONLY BENEFICIARIES OF LIBERAL DRUG POLICIES

As a Singaporean who has had permanent residency in Canada for more
than three years, I want to congratulate Richard Patton for his Oct.
28 Insight article, "The richest neighbourhood in town."

While Singapore's harsh "death to drug traffickers" laws might not go
down well with most Canadians, the resulting drug-free environment in
Singapore proves a simple truth: Control the supply and you will
control the addiction.

While I can appreciate the liberal approach by most politicians here
who view the drug problem as a health issue with emphasis on
well-meaning programs such as clean needles, I think they should not
be blind to the fact that the real benefactors of what they do are the
drug cartels that control the Downtown Eastside.

In the Far East, it is not uncommon to hear of stories about how cruel
people dismember or cripple abducted children then put them out on the
street to beg and prey on the kindness of passersby. Most people will
not see the evil behind the sorry picture of the dismembered child
beggars. So long as there is a profit, such hideous crimes will remain.

Every time I pass through the Downtown Eastside, it is not a bunch of
sick, destitute people I see. What I see are crippled and dismembered
slaves chained to a strong and invisible evil that controls the sorry
side of town.

William Lau

West Vancouver