The decision taken to keep the Fair Havens residential drug treatment facility open just as it was on the brink of closing should be welcomed by anyone who is even slightly concerned about the Island's drugs problem.

The message that would have been sent - had the centre closed - would have been entirely wrong: That Bermuda is not committed to drugs rehabilitation.

But that does not mean that Fair Havens should simply re-open and expect to carry on with business as usual, especially since business as usual appeared to mean that female substance abusers were not prepared to enter the facility.

For that reason, the National Drugs Commission, the Council Partners and the Government agencies that were pivotal in keeping Fair Havens open should have Anne Vance's opinion column on this page as required reading.

It is a heartfelt and straightforward explanation of what went right at Fair Havens and what went wrong.

And Ms Vance correctly states that the blame for Fair Havens' problems does not lie with the staff or clients of the facility. The blame goes to the heart of how we in Bermuda look at substance abuse.

Until the community is truly prepared to look at substance abuse as a treatable disease, and not as a sign of personal weakness or shame, it will lose the so-called war on drugs, which has always been a dreadful misnomer to begin with.

As long as it is seen as a sign of weakness, as long as people are allowed to deny they have a problem because they are not homeless or down and out, this community will suffer from the widespread and materially and socially devastating consequences of the problem.

That does not mean that Bermuda should be "soft" on drugs either. Excusing addiction gets Bermuda no closer to solving the problem than blaming the person with the disease.

Beating the disease requires self discipline and sacrifice and what Ms Vance calls "tough love". It can only be done in a structured environment where people are referred, not with shame or stigma, but in the knowledge that they need help and need to start holding themselves accountable for their actions.

Ms Vance says that this is the kind of programme that Fair Havens had in place. It drew from some of the best minds and experiences in the world and it failed, to the extent that it could not attract new clients, because, she says, addicts had become accustomed to lower standards and a come-and-go approach that is just part of the cycle of addiction and because of Bermuda's attitude to addiction.

It is essential that the Fair Havens model succeeds. Ms Vance claims that it has had some successes and that is what needs to be looked at now if Bermuda's rehabilitation efforts are to succeed.

If Bermuda does not seriously adopt the best practices and take onboard the hard learned lessons from elsewhere, then the community may as well give up.