Pubdate: Tue, 05 Sep 2006 Source: Chilliwack Times (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Chilliwack Times Contact: http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1357 Author: Mary Hartman SAFE INJECTION SITE NOT NEEDED Editor: Chilliwack needs a safe injection site like a hole in the head. No. No. No. Surely the rhetorical nonsense with the Vancouver experiment, where millions of taxpayers' dollars annually have been spent to keep 100 chosen few addicts in a euphoric haze daily, pumping poison into their systems (and it is taxpayers' money) which hasn't come from Iran or out of space. The remaining addicts still foul the streets and alley ways of Vancouver and afar. The panhandlers continue to hassle and harass the local public and tourists, driving visitors away. The latest headlines are quoted as saying that crime in Vancouver has increased. Of course it has-addicts are stealing anything they can get their hands on. Would an injection site in Chilliwack stop the stealing here? Of course not, as there would only be a chosen few addicts picked to go on the course, just like the one in Vancouver where only 100 could be fitted into the experiment. Why should the taxpayers continue to pay for addicts to pump their systems full of drugs? When would the experiment stop? It would be a cheaper use of the money to buy them all a computer and teach them how to use it. Addiction is a sickness and should be treated as such, not pampered. They should register as addicts, go through full rehabilitation treatment until capable of taking their place in society, receive appropriate training befitting the person's capabilities, gaining self-respect and a better life than as a useless drug addict. Those addicts treated but still unable to join the workforce, should be given a suitable disability pension and subsidized housing and not left to wander the streets to be abused and used by others in similar circumstances. For years scientists have stated that many long-term pot smokers have developed schizophrenia. Mary Hartman, Chilliwack - --- MAP posted-by: Derek