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.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman