Pubdate: Mon, 26 Feb 2001
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2001, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Forum: http://forums.theglobeandmail.com/
Author: Caroline Alphonso
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

THE VIEW FROM HERE

Skid Row Residents Clash Over Drug Plan

VANCOUVER -- Ask anyone living in Vancouver's skid row about the 
infestation of crime and drugs, and they'll tell you something must be done 
quickly to help this drug-plagued part of town.

But how to rid this area of heroin and cocaine is separating people in a 
bitter way.

In the past week, one by one, drug addicts, parents of addicts, business 
people, politicians and residents of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside stepped 
up to a microphone and pleaded with city officials to listen to their 
concerns. Outside the building, people in Grim Reaper costumes were milling 
around on the sidewalk, while others were distributing information on drug 
addiction.

They are coming out in droves, either to support or oppose strongly the 
health board's drug strategy initiative for the Downtown Eastside. The 
health board wants to develop four new centres to improve treatment, 
enforcement and harm-reduction services in order to control the heavy drug 
market and to reduce deaths and diseases in the area.

The health board has asked the city for development permits for four sites: 
a health centre to replace an existing one, a new life skills training 
centre, an addiction-treatment clinic and a contact centre.

It's one of the biggest fights city hall has seen in some time, with close 
to 700 people signing up to give bureaucrats an earful. So far, 150 people 
have spoken to a three-member panel. More are scheduled to speak at another 
meeting tomorrow, after which the city will decide on new centres.

Opponents say more centres in this neighbourhood will simply attract a 
greater number of dealers and users from elsewhere.

Supporters, such as Nicola Hall, say these buildings will keep their 
children alive. Addicts are drawn to the drugs in the area, not to the 
social services, she says.

Ms. Hall described herself at a meeting last week as the mother of two sons 
struggling to break their heroin addiction.

"These children make some bad choices in the first place. But once they 
make the mistake -- and who among us doesn't make mistakes -- it becomes 
fatal," she said.

Ms. Hall is not alone when she says treatment is lacking in the Downtown 
Eastside. The city received 2,500 letters of support for the health 
centres, and 900 opposing it.

Opponents are not happy with anything in the package.

"I think it's very unfortunate that the health board has not undertaken a 
complete and necessary study of the health needs of all the people down 
here, not only the addicts," said Mark Budgen, chairman of the Strathcona 
Area Safety Society.

Mr. Budgen, who lives in the area, said the city should have had proper 
consultation beforehand, to hear what residents want. "We just feel they're 
moving too quickly," he said.

Charles Lee, who owns a dental clinic in the area, presented 6,000 
signatures from residents and business people in Chinatown, part of the 
Downtown Eastside, opposing the city's plans. Mr. Lee said residents are 
already afraid of the dealers and addicts near them, and don't want centres 
built around them to house these people.

"I think [the city] has to weigh the concerns of those who operate within 
the law and those who operate outside the law," said Mr. Lee, who is the 
vice-chairman of the Chinatown Merchants Association.

But Muggs Sigurgeirson, a resident of the area and vice-president of the 
Carneigie Community Centre Association, said the drug scene will not 
disappear without the help of these social services.
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