Pubdate: Sun, 14 Feb 2010 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) Copyright: 2010 Times Colonist Contact: http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html Website: http://www.timescolonist.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481 Author: Earson Gibson SAFE INJECTION HELPS US ALL I'd like to end the misunderstanding of what harm reduction means in the context of Insite. Harm reduction doesn't mean reducing harm to the addict, although that's a beneficial side-effect, but reducing harm to the public. In a country with social health care where we all have to pay for each other's illnesses, the cost of a clean syringe can offset the cost of treating illnesses which, depending on the infection, can be upward of $100,000 per individual. More importantly, imagine a scenario where an addict becomes infected with an illness and unknowingly passes it on to someone else, who then passes it on to someone else. The people, including our federal government, which is fundamentally (morally?) opposed to giving addicts free, clean needles for their benefit need to reconsider the issue from a more selfish standpoint. It's not about helping addicts, it's about helping ourselves. Earson Gibson Victoria - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart