SAVE DETOX CENTRE

Recently, the Ottawa detox centre announced that it is slated to close for good in October due to a lack of ongoing funding from the Ministry of Health.

This is after 30 years of helping tens of thousands grapple with the demons of addiction and put their lives back together.

Without the support of the centre, it is likely that many of its clients will revert to their former destructive lifestyle.  Undoubtedly, this will mean an increased burden on our already overloaded emergency wards and increased crime.

When you compare these economic costs, not to mention the human ones, to what it costs to run the centre, cutting its funding would be very shortsighted.  Perhaps a trip to East Vancouver would cause the minister to have a change of heart.

STEPHEN ST.  DENIS

Ottawa

( The centre's a bargain by almost any standard )