DRUG REHAB SHOULD BE A PRIORITY

Editor, The News:

I came to a stunning conclusion today just how much misery is left uncovered.

One cannot help but wonder why such things are happening here in
Abbotsford, also known as "the Bible Belt."

Vancouver, yes! But Abbotsford?

Yes, Abbotsford!

We don't need to look to Vancouver City to find people sleeping under
bridges at night. I am told that it is happening right here in Abbotsford!
And the saddest part, I find, is the fact that some of them are school
children who should be sleeping in a warm home.

I ask you, why do we, as a so-called caring society, let these things
happen in our own back yard? Who is to take the blame?

It is the perceptive news reporting by journalists such as Abbotsford News
reporter Trudy Beyak that sheds light on some of the most difficult areas
of living today.

Several pictures emerged loud and clear in Beyak's report on the Doctor
Swanney story.

In this "pill popping" society of ours one can only wonder how often
doctors are blamed when patients themselves abuse their medication intake.

I believe most people recognize how physicians do have one of the most
difficult tasks in life with many critical decisions to make each day.
Beyak's report clearly showed how detox-residency treatment centres must be
made a priority in any government programming decisions.

After all, each of those drug addicts is somebody's son, someone's
daughter. Who would not want the the very best help for their own child?

I believe that both the federal and provincial governments place far too
heavy a burden on the medical profession today without providing proper
drug-rehab treatment centres for addicts in their time of crisis.

And Abbotsford should be placed on the top of their list.

Records show how many addicts wish to break the cycle but there just is no
place for them to go for rehab treatment.

Just how much can the medical profession do without the proper tools to
rehabilitate those who truly want to live a different lifestyle?

I like to commend Trudy Beyak for her informative style of reporting. It is
professional reporting - from the likes of Trudy and others in the newsroom
- - that enables citizens to better understand the many problems facing this
modern effluent society of ours today.

Please keep up the good work.

Gertie Pool, Abbotsford