LEFTY GARR IGNORES COMMUNITY'S NEEDS ON DRUG ISSUE

To the editor:

I wish that Allen Garr would temper his left-wing diatribe with more
balanced reporting ("Clarke's drug views belong in the archives," April
26). Mr. Garr's views would be far more readily acceptable if he stopped
playing party politics and refrained from viciously attacking councillor
Jennifer Clarke, the NPA and the Community Alliance. Rather than listening
to the voice of reason, Mr. Garr feels it's necessary to only publish those
views shared by Mr. Garr and his liberal colleagues, concerning the
establishment of safe injection facilities.

Because drug traffickers are allowed to ply their drugs without fear of
arrest and prosecution it has attracted dealers from far and wide to the
Vancouver area. This has resulted in complete deterioration of the whole
Downtown Eastside and crime and chaos in the lives of the long-time
residents and business people. Scores of businesses are up for sale. Many
of the old long-term residents in the Downtown Eastside are afraid to leave
their apartments for fear of being mugged.

Proponents of safe injection facilities are oversimplifying the issue. The
establishment of safe injection facilities is a Band-Aid solution to the
whole drug abuse problem. It may save the lives of some addicts, but
proponents of the drug-injection facilities are grossly naive, if they
believe they are going to get many of the addicts into drug treatment. I
would venture to guess that it would be next to impossible to get addicts
into any drug treatment program, when they are constantly in contact with
their dealers in a drug-infested area. All of the health care professionals
I have spoken to insist that it is necessary for an individual to be
motivated and they must be removed from an area where drugs are purchased
and used and they must be placed in a proper treatment facility.

Unfortunately, however, the four pillar approach to the drug problem as
espoused by Allen Garr, Mayor Owen and his liberal cohorts has only dealt
with harm reduction, as it pertains to the addicts. Nothing has been done
to prevent harm to the community, as a result of drug dealing in the
Downtown Eastside. It's time the Attorney General and Vancouver police
started to enforce the drug trafficking laws to keep these peddlers of
human misery and crime off the streets. Sure, it's going to cost a lot of
money to build more jails and drug treatment facilities, but the
alternative is crime and chaos in our communities.

Gerald J. Daubert, Vancouver