IN THE NEWS

Insightful report

It is interesting, but not surprising, to see the strong negative reaction to the report from

Dr. Colin Mangham exposing the failures of Insite, Vancouver's drug- injection site. Virtually all the negative comments came from those who either work there or who are associated with drug legalization.

The Journal of Global Drug Policy is a peer-reviewed journal reviewed by medical and other professionals in the field of substance-abuse policy and practice.

The guidelines for submission of articles and the review process are similar to most professional journals.

My knowing Dr. Mangham has nothing to do with the issue.

This injection site does not get people off drugs. It uses valuable resources that could be spent on prevention and treatment. If the Conservative government hadn't given it a one-year last gasp at life, it would be illegal.

Dr. Mangham's report was fact-based, honest, helpful and offered many constructive solutions and suggestions for proper evaluation of the facility.

The sacred cow that advocates hold up to the world as their grand achievement is not getting addicts off drugs.

And since these advocates won't listen to objective analysis of the issue, they'll continue to focus on continuing the addiction problem and not deal with it.

But why would they want to re-evaluate the issue? It is taxpayers' money they're spending, isn't it?

Randy White,

Abbotsford