Pubdate: Sun, 26 Nov 2000 Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Copyright: 2000, Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: #250, 4990-92 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T6B 3A1 Canada Fax: (780) 468-0139 Website: http://www.canoe.ca/EdmontonSun/ Forum: http://www.canoe.ca/Chat/home.html Author: Mindelle Jacobs TREATMENT, NOT JAIL, IS ANSWER FOR JUNKIES Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen needn't worry that Alberta addicts would make a beeline for the coast if safe injection sites were established. Junkies aren't in the habit of buying drugs and then hitchhiking or driving for 18 hours before shooting up. Moreover, Canadians are still so reluctant to treat drug addiction as a health problem rather than a criminal matter that we'll probably see people smoking pot legally in the streets before we ever see safe injection sites. Nevertheless, the discussion report on drug abuse released by Owen last week should serve as a wakeup call to municipalities across the country. Vancouver may have the worst injection drug problem in the country, with an estimated 12,000 addicts, but the rest of us can't afford to be complacent. More than one-quarter of AADAC's 40,000 clients have injected drugs (cocaine is the most popular) and Edmonton's needle exchange program handed out 823,000 needles last year. In fact, over the last five years, the number of needles exchanged has jumped by 100,000 a year, according to Marliss Taylor of Streetworks, a health-care program geared towards injection drug users. Estimates of the number of IDUs in Edmonton range from 4,000 to 10,000. Last year the Streetworks people saw 7,500 users 21,000 times. Whatever way you look at it, Canada's injection drug problem is much bigger than a bunch of loser junkies fouling up the streets of east Vancouver. Every city in the country should be examining the recommendations in the Vancouver report, which advocates a comprehensive approach involving prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm reduction. The best proposal is that drug users be placed in treatment instead of jail. In the recent U.S. election, in fact, California voters approved a referendum measure that would require first- and second-time drug offenders to be sent to treatment programs instead of jail. The initiative provides $60 million US immediately to expand treatment services and makes $120 million available every year after that. Gee, is it possible that Americans - well, Californians, anyway - have acknowledged that the war on drugs is not only outrageously expensive but unwinnable? The Vancouver report also recommends a continuum of intervention and support programs for addicts, including decent housing and better efforts to target organized crime, drug dealers and drug houses. It cites the successes Portland, Oregon, Switzerland, Frankfurt and Liverpool have had in reducing drug use with the proper intervention. In Portland, for instance, addicts have access to a variety of services ranging from detox and alcohol- and drug-free housing to job training. The Swiss offer users easier access to methadone, injection rooms, shelters and job programs. Most are now in treatment, the public consumption of drugs is no longer a problem and crime has plummeted. In Frankfurt, users have access to crisis centres, injection sites, shelters and outreach workers. As well, those convicted of minor drug offences get treatment instead of jail. The number of addicts dropped from 10,000 in 1992 to 3,000 last year. In Liverpool, where users can get methadone and, in some cases, heroin, only 20 of 7,000 addicts contracted HIV. How much more evidence do we need before we see the light? - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake