Editor, The News:
Re: Lives lost too soon to fentanyl.
There has been a lot in the news lately about drug addiction, including the stories of the two mothers who lost their sons.
I feel so sorry for them. No one should have to go through that. Advocates would have us believe that all addicts have experienced some kind of trauma, but these stories give the lie to this.
In truth, anyone can become an addict. Just as that first drag of nicotine can make you a lifelong smoker, so that first hit of a drug can make you an addict.
Each subsequent hit simply increases the risk. It’s always a matter of personal choice, no one forces you.
What has happened to our society that so many of our young people don’t consider they have had a good night out unless they finish it drunk or stoned, or both? When did taking an illegal substance become ‘recreational’?
Like most people these days, my family has been brushed by addiction. It has taught me that only by hitting personal rock-bottom can the addict be saved.
Unless you’ve lived under a rock, everyone surely knows by now that fentanyl is out there and can kill, but it hasn’t changed anything.
We spend millions of dollars on Band-Aid solutions, such as safe injection sites, free drugs, barrier-free shelters when that money would be far better spent on clean, well-regulated rehab centres so that rehab is available whenever the addict decides that it’s time.
It’s significant that so many of our tax dollars go to enabling addicts whereas people with cancer for instance, who die by the thousands every year, are left to buy their own medication and deal with their problems unaided.
I certainly know where I would prefer my tax money go.
Anne Rostvig
Maple Ridge