rugs taking toll on families, communit

Dear Editor:

Re: July 19, Leo Knight’s article Free drugs for addicts

would be Kwan’s folly.

I congratulate and applaud Mr. Knight for his article. It is

time for all of us to simply sav “No more!” Minster Kwan's
muddle-headed thinking is dangerous to point of being crimi-
nally negligent. Drugs kill people and ruin families. Painting her
daisy on this epidemic will not change that fact.

Our communities and neighbourhoods are suffering from
the costs of drug addiction yet the answer of the Jenny Kwans
of the world to this problem is free drugs and “safe injection
sites.” In other words, suzrender. Oh no, silly me. How could
Jenny, the artist, Kwan understand anything about the true cost
of addiction?

These costs include the destruction of families through the
loss of their children to drug abuse, prostitution, disease, and
death, to say nothing about “home invasions.”

There is also a huge medical care cost resulting from viral and
bacteriological infections. The incidence of infection is increas-
ing exponentially regardless of the “harm reduction” and “nee-
dle exchanges” programs. Eventually it will bankrupt our
health-care infrastructure.

The federal and the provincial governments are moving away
from the answer and toward the advocating of “free heroin” and

MAIL BOX

“sate fixing sites.” Yes, what an alcoholic needs is free alcohol
and safe place to drink and pass out! What happened to “No?™

Free drugs and “safe fixing sites” just will not do. The
answer, alas not theirs, is rooted in a strong belief in the basic
worth and resilience of people. We must develop and fund an
effective detoxification and rehabilitation program with real jobs
waiting for the successful graduates.

We need a five-point plan to deal with this epidemic:
@ The federal and provincial governments must provide the
Necessary funding to provide for the development of a compre-
hensive continuum of drug detox and rehab programs through-
out the province, with centers in the Fraser Valley, the Cariboo,
and on Vancouver Island.
@ The premier and attorney general of this province must cre-
ate a meaningful drug court system where the object is to
change behavior, not to punish. In other words, there has to be
effective rehabilitation options for the court to consider.
@ The premier and attorney general of this province must use
his power and influence to create and properly fund an effective
drug detoxification and rehabilitation model, which is focused
on the principles of recovery and abstinence.
@ The UBCM request that premier of this province ensure that
along with the components of “drug detoxification, self concept
rehabilitation, meaningful job training, industry and business

Not all dog walkers pose problems

not all the other responsible

Dear Editor:

Re: Joan Klucha, Dog own-
ership is a privilege not a right
(June 25 North Shore News).

Nucha is right, of course,
about responsible pet owner-
ship and the problems pet own-
ers create when they ignore
common courtesy to other
park users. However, as a dog
walker, 1.feel chat there is a
~ major point that most people,

including your columnist, seem
to be unaware of.

: When you talk about dog
walkers taking large groups,
you fump them all into’ the
same category with all the same

oor
a"ALL S

EOP ALL SOFAS
Ve need to ma

problems.

I know of only three com-
panies that take groups with 12
to 15 dogs or more.

Most other group walkers
that I know, including myself,
take a maximum of eight dogs.
We hike high up into the
mountains, along trails such as
the Baden-Powell, and most of
us hardly ever come across any-
body. Most of us are very con-

cerned with other trail-users, _

pick up after our dogs (and
other people’s), are courteous,
and do not take aggressive dogs
that attack anybody or any-
thing.

We insist that our dogs
respond to us, and are not out
of control. For those of us,
safety and consideration are the
number one concerns instead

dog walkers, should be pun-
ished for not following the nec-
essary rules and regulations.
Micki Ashurst

of “the almighty dollar.” North Vancouver

Now, having talked about
that majority, there are one or
two walkers who are not cour-
teous, walk in very public,
heavily used areas, and do not
respond to complaints in a pos-
itive manner. These people take
huge numbers of dogs and are
in it primarily for the money.
But please don’t lump us into
that very smali minority!

The offending individuals,

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4

Friday, July 28, 2000 ~ North Shore News - 9

GS

are financially encouraged to provide employment opportunities
tor the graduates of the program. In other words, significant
“tax brakes.”

@ The federal government must enact legislation which will
allow for the purging of all criminal (drug) history of the suc-
cessful graduates of the program who have remained “clean and
sober” for a period of wo years after treatment. Drug traffick-
ers and importers must be prosecuted and sentenced to the full
extent of the law. This means, simply, to give the guilty person
the full sentence as provided.

Douglas MacKay-Dunn

North Vancouver District Councillor

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