Letter: Crime claims ‘unsubstantiated’

Re: Property crime increase blamed on drug abusers, Oct. 10

Your story makes the unproven causal claim that increased drug abuse has resulted in an increase in crime.

Nowhere in the article is this claim validated with evidence or even clearly attributed to a qualified expert.

In addition the article offers no evidence that there has in fact been an increase in drug abuse. This is sloppy journalism based on speculation rather than proof. The article only gives space to law enforcement considerations rather than addressing what it previously identified as the cause of crime- drug abuse.

Instead of baiting (or entrapping) petty drug-addicted criminals, a solution might be found in addressing drug addiction and bringing attention to the extreme lack of drug addiction treatment facilities in this city.

If your paper is to leap to unsubstantiated conclusions about the causes of crime the least it could do is effectively investigate those causes.

Anne McEwen,
Percy Street