Pubdate: Wed, 20 Nov 2002
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 The Province
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Susan Martinuk

SAFE-INJECTION SITES WON'T WORK

If one believes the news-media reports, Vancouver's drug debate is 
essentially over.

Larry Campbell is the new mayor and that means safe-injection sites are 
coming to Vancouver -- perhaps as early as Jan. 1.

Campbell campaigned hard on this issue and, while there is no indication 
that voters specifically endorsed this proposition, they obviously saw it 
as a positive sign that someone would finally do something about the drug 
problem that currently overruns the Downtown Eastside.

But Campbell's determination to help addicts shoot up demonstrates a 
short-sighted and weak-willed approach to fixing/bettering the Eastside 
community.

In fact, it may even exacerbate the problems that already exist.

The goal of safe-injection sites is to provide addicts with a safe, 
hygienic and medically supervised area where they can blast themselves into 
chemical oblivion.

A supply of clean needles, helpful injection tips and medical staff will, 
in theory, reduce transmission of HIV and Hepatitis C and provide immediate 
assistance in case of an overdose.

Yes, a few individuals will be helped but, overall, it only encourages 
addicts to move their drug habit indoors and away from the public eye. We 
may no longer see the problem -- but it will still be there.

Some experts on the Downtown Eastside don't see this as a good solution.

Dr. Stanley de Vlaming, a doctor who treats the drug addicts that live 
there, and John Turvey, executive director of Downtown Eastside Youth 
Activities Society, have both recently stated that safe-injection sites 
simply aren't practical.

Vancouver's drug culture is based on crack and cocaine, not heroin, and 
users may need a fix as often as 15-30 times a day. It's hard to imagine 
that users on a binge would be so conscientious as to go to a shooting 
gallery each time.

In fact, it was for this same reason that Vancouver's pre-eminent needle 
exchange program failed to prevent the HIV and Hepatitis C epidemic that we 
now have.

Users who are high and in dire need of a fix won't take time to walk a 
block to get a clean needle. So we have no reason to believe that they will 
now take the walk to shoot up.

The people with the highest motivation to get to a safe-injection site will 
be the drug dealers.

If we gather all the addicts together in one spot, where the law offers 
them immunity, we have to assume that the dealers will be nearby.

Perhaps that's why a majority of eastside businesses rightly oppose 
safe-injection sites.

Finally, there is little data to support the creation of safe-injection sites.

In Switzerland, the implementation of such "harm reduction" policies in the 
mid-1980s led to increased drug trafficking, higher crime rates and a 
proliferation of experimentation with new kinds of drugs.

Surely we can offer addicts something better than lifelong oblivion and 
addiction.

We can get them out of the drug culture and off of drugs by making an 
investment in detox beds, long-term treatment and counselling.

It will mean medical assistance and money for education and job creation. 
It will take police enforcement.

But it's the only way to break the downward spiral of social decay and give 
users a chance at a drug-free life.

Safe-injection sites may remove the problems from our sight. But it won't 
solve the problem of addiction.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens