Harm reduction saves lives, bucks

Dear editor: Re: Cut free needles, Herald, Letters, July 30

Free needles are a part of the answer... when the question is about harm reduction.

Making it difficult to get needles would not solve “the drug problem.” In fact it would make things worse (increased infections like HIV and Hep C would create a burden on our healthcare system).

There will always be people in the population addicted to some kind of drug. The world has never been drug-free, and will never be drug-free. That is not a realistic goal, yet so many people seem to think it is the only answer. People will always find a way to get their hands on drugs, and will find a way to get those drugs into their bodies.

One goal for dealing with this problem is harm reduction to minimize the impact that drug use has on our society as well as our health-care system (another involves addressing social and medical issues that lead to the start of drug use).

We can get help to people which will decrease the number of people using, but the number of users will never be zero.

Ironically, the one thing that would do the most for harm reduction would be to legalize all drugs so that those who do use them and can’t or won't stop can have access to a safer product.

Many of the problems we have today come from the black market products themselves (versus the fact that drug use on its own exists). Unfortunately, because our society has a general goal of ‘no drugs is the best outcome possible’ this will never happen.

Developing a system for harm reduction is complex and multifaceted. It’s too lengthy a subject to discuss here, but if you would like to learn more about the facts you can find plenty of information online.

Ann Perry

Kelowna