Re: We need new tactics to fight youth drug use, Jan. 3.

I find it hard to believe that no one offered an answer to 17-year-old letter-writer Abdirazak Abdi.

There are tried and true tactics to combat youth drug use. A U.S. study done about 20 years ago concluded that government-sponsored drug treatment programs were a waste of taxpayers' dollars.

It concluded that the only successful such programs were because of what it called the Jesus factor.

Pascal, the famous French mathematician, made a statement that is worth remembering.

He said we all have a "God-shaped" vacuum in our hearts that can only be filled with the Holy Spirit. That means becoming a Christian.

Ignorance has people trying to satisfy themselves with cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, sex, money, religions and about anything you can name, when the only real satisfaction comes from knowing Jesus (not just knowing about Him).

Why do Christian drug treatment centres such as Freedom Village in New York State, Teen Challenge Centres throughout the U.S. and Canada and Ottawa's Harvest House have a success rate of around 85 per cent on a limited budget, while government-sponsored organizations spend millions of dollars, only to have a success rate of three to five per cent?

The success rate depends on whether the addict desires to commit to a personal relationship to the Lord Jesus.

President George W. Bush announced in his State of the Union address that the United States was going to fund faith-based drug-addiction treatment programs.

As a Christian, he has concluded that the Jesus Factor is the only treatment that works.

How long will it be before the Canadian federal government and the media come to the same conclusion?

Chuck Runolfson,

Ottawa