David Berner is a longtime Vancouver media figure who has hosted radio and TV talkshows. He also has a background in operating residential treatment facilities to help drug and alcohol addicts turn around their lives.
Dear Editor,
David Berner
In B.C., we are witnessing two asteroids on a collision course.
The first is the Provincial election.
The second is the current opioid/fentanyl crisis.
You and I and those running for office might profit by have some acquaintance with the real issues at stake. Having candidates blathering shallow promises and spewing accepted wisdoms that don’t work is not helpful.
Our Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, has a ready answer for the dreadful spike in drug deaths in recent months. Legalize everything! Lovely.
And not one candidate has been recorded demanding treatment for addicts. As if a steady supply of free drugs will change something.
Ask yourself this. Better or worse? Better or worse? Since Harm Reduction (Insite, free needles, free heroin, and replacement narcotics) has been in vogue as the preferred public policy, things have only become starkly worse. Many millions of public dollars spent and many more addicts and deaths in many more neighbourhoods. Quite a nice little industry.
Ask your candidate if he or she is prepared to invest in recovery and give addicts the real opportunity for sobriety, hope, dignity, and a place in the human community.
David Berner, Executive Director
Drug Prevention Network of Canada
