Pubdate: Wed, 03 Oct 2007
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 The Province
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Sita von Windheim

TREATMENT OVER ENFORCEMENT

How long will it take for the public to realize that drug addiction 
is an illness and that treatment rather than punishment is the only 
humane answer to ending the suffering of the addicts as well as the public?

B.C. Provincial Court Chief Judge Hugh Stansfield's refusal to send 
gravely-ill people to prison is a step in the right direction.

It is time to declare an end to the drug war, stop criminalizing 
addiction and mental illness and use the millions of dollars now 
spent on enforcement on treatment instead.

Sita von Windheim,

Vancouver
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