Pubdate: Fri, 05 Oct 2007 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 The Province Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Author: Keith Porteous HEAD IN SAND OVER INSITE There was no need to put the words "harm reduction" into quotations marks as Alan Ferguson did in his non-insightful commentary on Insite. Insite works to save lives, reduce crime and lower addiction rates. The local government, the police and health workers agree on this. Insite is not recommending the decriminalization of pot. Some 94 per cent of the budget of the Conservatives' war on drugs goes to law enforcement, which has no impact on drug-related crime or public safety, with six per cent going to so-called harm reduction and drug-treatment programs. Ferguson is suggesting we stick our necks deeper into the sand because we have been "lulled into permissive drug policies." Keith Porteous, Denman Island - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom