NOT ONLY THAT, BUT ALSO....

In this morning's rant on The Nutty Professor, I forgot to mention how Mayor Sam has not only been deceiving us, which is, of course, required for a politician, but in the matter of addictions, he has taken to deceiving himelf as well!

You see, Sam would be the first to tell us that he is a stone cold realist. It is a central part of how he has heroically and admirably dealt with his quardaplegia. He rose from a hospital bed to be the holder of some 50 patents for devices to aid the disabled. He is the founder and executive of a dozen organizations to enable the disabled. He sails and sleeps at the top of mountains.

Yet, somehow, in this one peculiar area of addictions, crime and homelessness, he suffers from MAGIC THINKING.

Is it realistic to believe that in one fell swoop you can cure the community of these hydra-headed ills? When did social change ever occur on such a monumental scale? Human progress, like football games, is measured in inches. We fix a little here; we move the marble along the path a little there.

Maybe Chairman Mao, maybe FDR's New Deal, maybe the founding of the State of Isreal, maybe the formation of the United States, maybe The Simpsons.

But this? Give yer head a shake, young feller...

MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN TOWN

He's delusional.

Listen to this:

"I'm reluctant to go aggressively on enforcement issues until we have dealt with the social side of things. In the next while, I intend to prepare the police for their role in that."

I am sure that Police Chief Jamie Graham will be heartened to learn that the Mayor will soon be teaching his men and women on the beat a thing or two about how to do their jobs. Who even knew that Sam was a police instructor?

In The Nutty Professor's latest public pronouncement - Thank God, somewhat secod-fiddled to the Vancouver Sun's screeching 90-point front pager on a certain criminal trial - we learn that He, in his Infinite Wisdom will eliminate drug addiction, crime and homelessness, and all before the opening ceremonies in Ripped Roof Hall.

The core of N. Prof's Massive Solution is to provide "at least" 700 cocaine and crystal-meth addicts with some kind of substitute drugs. Which "substitute drugs" are among the many details not made clear by Sullivan.

But, let me ask you this, dear friends and defenders of the last fading shards of sanity and reasonableness. Are you prepared to give drunks free and cheap scotch? Are you prepared to add that expense to your tax rolls? Are you standing in line to provide child molesters with the names, addresses and cell numbers of adorable young children? Are Ford and Toyota participating in a Give-Away program for chronic car thieves?

What is at the centre of Sam's horribly misguided vision is not only a moral issue. The key is that he and so many other like him utterly do not understand the basic dynamics of addictions.

Fine. Give dope to dope fiends. Good luck.

If you have even the most passing knowledge of the issue, then you know that what addicts want is MORE. More drugs, more sex, more doctors, more social workers, more kneedles, pizzas, beer, housing, you name it. There simply is never enough. You can give Jack or Jane Junkie their supervised fix at 11 am, and by 12:15, he/she is in the alley scoring and shooting MORE.

Your aged Aunt Agnes, 73 and ailing, must pay for her needles to inject the insulin she needs to combat the diabetes she as after a lifetime of raising 2 generations of family, paying taxes and driving kids to soccer practice and orchestra rehearsal.

But I should pay for Senor Dope Fiend to have free needles, drugs and rooming?

I would ask you to think again, Sam, if, in fact, thinking on this subject is something of which you are capable.