DON'T BLAME THE DETOX WORKERS

This is in response to Patricia Powicks comments in the Saturday, Oct. 5,
NOW about the shortage of detox beds. She is absolutely correct that there
are not enough beds available, but to put all the blame on the detox
workers is not fair at all.

My husband works at the only detox between Burnaby and Boston Bar. There
are 22 beds available. That's it. That's all.

The workers have tried every way imaginable to get addicts in as quickly as
possible but as you can see it is a very impossible task. They have a time
available for addicts to call and get on the waiting list. They have
changed the times over the years to try and suit the most people's needs.
As you can imagine, no time suits everyone and they always get complaints.

Phone calls take time away from the addicts because the workers have to
answer the phones.

However, even if they could hire someone to just answer phones, it would
not change the fact that there are only 22 beds.

Please put the blame squarely on the government's shoulders. They are the
ones that will not fund more detoxes.

Call your MLAs at 7:30 in the morning and make your complaints known.

Hopefully the Fraser Heath Authority will take it upon themselves to solve
this problem. Please do not blame the detoxes themselves. If they had more
beds they would fill them.

Name withheld by request