Pubdate: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2002 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Andre Lachance Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) [Vancouver Sun Editorial Introduction: While many professionals endorse safe injection sites and clean needles for drug addicts, other counsellors think a combination of jail and treatment is the best answer] ON PINS AND NEEDLES, 3 of 5 If anyone has a financial interest in maintaining our expensive and obviously failed approach to the drug problem, it is the police. The federal auditor general has pointed out that 95 per cent of the money that Canadians spend on the drug problem is gobbled up by enforcement initiatives. It is time to stop letting cops dictate our response to the drug problem in Vancouver. The war on drugs has failed. It is time to take a sensible and comprehensive approach that includes all four pillars, including harm reduction. We need an approach like the one Mayor Philip Owen championed and the one mayoral candidate Jennifer Clarke pays lip service to. Andre Lachance Vancouver - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D