Pubdate: Fri, 20 Jan 2006 Source: Prince George Free Press (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 BC Newspaper Group Contact: http://www.pgfreepress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2135 Author: Victor Bowman THE NEEDLE AND THE DAMAGE DONE I'm an ordinary guy, not an expert but confused by the experts. I don't understand what the heck is going on in the world of drugs and all that is connected with it. Like many others, I have had my vehicle broken into and searched for small change and anything else of value. My real loss was about three bucks worth of change but the cost to get my vehicle repaired was just over $700 and I had to pay $500 of that. What was the emotional cost? Upset and anger at being targeted by some twit that thought they could score a few bucks by breaking into my car. They didn't know that I, like most prudent people, don't leave valuables in my car. Because, with all the stories I have heard I am just a little paranoid. My reaction was that I would kind of like to kick the individual that did this in some place that really hurt. The reality is that given the chance, I probably wouldn't. Why did this wanton act of vandalism occur? Most likely it was some addict who needed his or her next fix and they really didn't care if they were caught. All they wanted was a few bucks to satisfy their need for more drugs. There are thousand, not hundreds, of people in this city that have had similar experiences. What is it with our drug programs? We are supposed to feel sympathy with these individuals who have, for whatever reason, chosen to use drugs to make their lives more palatable. Many are disadvantaged individuals that have little in their lives of any value. But, there are also many users that have had all the advantages of stable home, education and the privilege of being part of mainstream society. There appears to be many roads to addiction. How to mitigate the problem has a wide variety of proponents favoring widely divergent solutions. The law and order approach advocates harsher penalties for all involved from importers, manufacturers, dealers and users. They are the advocates of all out war on drugs. Perhaps they should take a look at the failure of the "War on Drugs" in the United States. Cut off one channel and a dozen others channels spring up to take the place of the closed channel. There is a big profit to be made out of this miserable trade. Another camp advocates the complete legalization and control of the products. Alcohol and tobacco are legal to use and the cost of those addictions is extremely high. Between the extreme positions there are many solutions proposed. While there is great merit in endeavoring to help addicts break the habit and lead a better life, there is the problem of the addicts not wanting to. It is my understanding that addiction recovery can only begin when the addict sincerely seeks a cure. That leaves out the majority of addicts. Just look at the programs designed to convince people to quit smoking. They have an impact, but the success rate is lower than desired. Whatever the solution, it is time that our society pursue improvements. The cost of the drug trade is not only the ruined and unproductive lives that it takes but also the billions of dollars in the cost of fighting the battle. More intervention, more policing, more addiction treatment is all costly and the funding comes from the taxpayer. Perhaps it is time we demanded some positive progress and value for our tax dollars from our politicians. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman