Pubdate: Mon, 07 Apr 2003
Source: North Shore News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2003 North Shore News
Contact:  http://www.nsnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/311
Author: Michael Kushnir
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n453/a09.html

KNIGHT SHOULD TRY WALKING WITH DRUG USERS

Dear Editor:

It is appalling that Leo Knight tried to ridicule drug users (Junkies Lobby 
Against Drug Enforcement, March 26) by suggesting that they don't deserve 
to be called a special interest group. Let me ask Knight a question: If you 
can't see it, does it mean that it doesn't exist? The premise that a 
stronger police presence and harsher sentences would solve most of the 
problems in the Downtown Eastside is ridiculous. By incarcerating drug 
users, you're not helping them get off the streets. While I'm not 
suggesting that enforcement isn't an integral pillar in the solution to the 
problems in that community, it only makes sense to phase in the other three 
pillars at the same time.

Drug users don't want to be drug users. It's not an issue of "Hey, I like 
it here on the streets." It's an issue of "Hey, I've got nowhere to go." 
The streets, for most, are a last resort. Can they get meaningful 
employment? Well, I'm not too sure that your average manager at Starbucks 
would hire someone living on the streets. If your sons or daughters are 
having difficulty getting that first job, imagine how hard it would be for 
a homeless person.

One thing that upsets me about many North Shore residents such as Knight, 
is that their isolated location from the Downtown Eastside and their 
higher-than-average incomes (averaging over $58,000 a year) and standards 
of living make them forget that poverty, especially in the Downtown 
Eastside (average wage about $12,000 a year), exists every day, not just 
those days when they decide to cross Burrard Inlet.

Does Knight truly believe that Premier Campbell and his B.C. Liberals would 
"shovel money" at B.C. Persons With Aids, YouthCo and AIDS Vancouver to 
help those who need it most? The B.C. Liberal agenda does not provide for 
the poorest in this province - it saddens me, even more so since Premier 
Campbell is, for now, my MLA.

The last thing that I have to ask is whether Knight has taken a trip to the 
Downtown Eastside lately. If not, I'd invite him to spend an hour talking 
to its residents.

An aboriginal saying notes: "Before you judge someone, walk a mile in their 
shoes." Taking that into mind, I think very few of us deserve to judge 
chronic drug users.

Michael Kushnir, Vancouver
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager