To the Editor,
In his report to council, RCMP Inspector Hunter explained that chronic offenders are being arrested multiple times and then being released back into the community. He further advised that it comes down to drug abuse.
It seems to me that the RCMP are doing their job, but then the court system, with society’s blessing, throws the problem back at them over and over again, with no hope of any resolve.
Hardcore drug users now have more rights than other members of our community. They can purchase their illicit drugs with impunity. We will furnish them with free needles and provide safe injection sites. Our paramedics will treat them when they overdose and rush them to the hospital where doctors and nurses frequently have to endure verbal abuse from them while treating them. Then they are released back into the community to start their cycle of drug abuse over again.
By the way, the latest I heard was it is not “Politically Correct” to call a drug abuser an addict – they are now said to have a “Substance Use Disorder.”
When are we as a society going to wake up and demand that federal and provincial politicians address the problem? If indeed a person has a substance abuse disorder that compels them to chronically rob and steal to feed their habit, then they need to be treated. If treatment is refused, then the courts must have the legislated duty to put chronic offenders into a confined treatment program.
The only other way to put a stop to drug-related crime would be to supply the substance abusers with free heroin. I personally do not see that as an option.
Bill Randles,
Port Alberni
