Pubdate: Fri, 4 Jul 2008 Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 Vancouver Courier Contact: http://www.vancourier.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n627/a01.html Author: James Tigchelaar CLEMENT ON DRUGS WHEN IT COMES TO INSITE To the editor: Let me get this straight. In his speeches attacking Insite, Tony Clement has been quoting somebody who shares his point of view ("Health Minister cites VPD cop in Insite attack," June 27). Was anyone surprised at this? I mean, it's not like it's a big deal for Clement to find someone in his ideological camp to support his arguments. It's pretty sad that the best he could come up with was some police officer who is clearly ignorant about drug dependency, who seems completely unfamiliar with current health research and who is out of step with modern policing. What is surprising and disturbing is that he gets to talk about it in a VPD uniform, suggesting that his views are shared by the department. No, it would have been truly surprising, not to mention newsworthy, if Minister Clement had cited credible research in his speeches. It would have been an unanticipated shock if, following some critical thinking, he made a distinction between his private beliefs and public responsibilities, and based his decisions solely on the assembled evidence and demonstrated best practices. But no, someone stop me. I'm getting giddy. What was that saying about flying pigs again? James Tigchelaar, Vancouver - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake