CRIME STUDY'S FINDINGS SELF-EVIDENT

I was amazed when I read Study links substance abuse, crime (SP May 1), not
with what I read but trying to figure out why in the world a study would be
done, at an unknown cost to Canadian taxpayers, to discover what everyone
else seems to know without a study.

Hello! Who turned out the lights on these people who claim to be from the
Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, an arm's-length federal agency?

They interviewed about 10,000 male and female prisoners in provincial and
federal institutions. It is common knowledge -- unless, of course, you have
been living on a deserted island or within the depths of the rain forest --
that substance abuse and crime are related.

In case some people haven't noticed, every time some kind of money comes
out -- for example, child tax benefit, income tax returns, pay, welfare and
treaty cheques -- it is guaranteed that there will be increased crime. When
people have money, some of them opt to use alcohol and/or drugs.

All you have to do is look at the statistics for Saskatoon. It is almost a
sure thing that someone will get stabbed, shot, murdered or beaten up when
under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

I have an idea. Instead of wasting money on a survey whose outcome people
already know, why not use the money to help people who are using these
substances and ending up behind bars?

Kimberly Hall

Saskatoon