Pubdate: Tue, 03 Jun 2008 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: William Clegg BRING ON THE DRUG TREATMENT The Harper government's rejection of a safe drug injection facility is all about prejudice and small-minded ideology. Its denials that Insite is beneficial fly in the face of years of sound scientific study that show its services are far more effective than simply suggesting, "Don't take drugs." For the government to suggest it has no knowledge of the facility's value stands as a clear indication of how deeply it has its head in the sand. The most egregious of the government's statements has to be its suggestion that drug treatment centres are a better answer. If so, where are they? Perhaps Stephen Harper and his cohorts need to use the summer recess to take a couple of first-year courses in just how democracy works. Forcing one's ideological prejudices on a population is the stuff of dictators and autocracies. William Clegg Gabriola Island - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom