Pubdate: Tue, 05 Sep 2006 Source: Kamloops Daily News (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Kamloops Daily News Contact: http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/679 Author: Mel Rothenburger Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms) Note: A Daily News editorial by Mel Rothenburger WRONG QUESTIONS ABOUT DRUG SITES A lot of the rhetoric around the question of whether or not to close the Vancouver pilot-project drug injection site is missing the point. The key question, which must be considered by any community including Kamloops when it comes to dealing with drug addiction, is "Has the site reduced harm?" In other words, are drug addicts safer, is the east end neighbourhood safer, has crime diminished? Instead, opponents of the site insist on focusing only on the question, "Has drug abuse been reduced?" That's a fair question, and one that needs to be answered, but not necessarily in the context of safe-injection sites. Ideally, a drug addict would enter the site, shoot up, be handed a pamphlet about the downsides of drug addiction, and change his life around right then and there. Definitely, funding is needed for programs to get people over their addictions and get back to being productive members of society. That requires very specific health-care and counselling programs, plus job training and maintenance. Harm reduction is aimed at doing exactly what it says. It is a practical approach to a social issue that simply can't be resolved. Its purpose is to keep people safer than they would otherwise be. In a sense, it's an interim step for addicts. RCMP say they can't support safe-injection sites without clear evidence that they help people kick their addictions. The Vancouver Police Department, which is responsible for policing in the area in which the site operates, supports the site. Indeed, there's ample evidence the Vancouver site has been a success, but of course it depends on your definition of success. Those who regard drug addicts as criminals who must be punished will never accept legalized drug injection. On the other hand, there is actually some data to suggest addicts who use the safe-injection site are more likely to seek help to get out from under their addictions. That could well be because their lives become more normalized than they were on the street. The federal government has a decision to make. The Vancouver pilot project was scheduled to end Sept. 12 but the Harper government has decided to give it another year and a bit before deciding its ultimate fate. If it says yes at the end of 2007, there will be pressure to open more such sites, and the country will be faced with a national dialogue on the current state of our drug laws and treatment facilities. Cities like Kamloops, with our own hard-drug addiction issues, will be swept into that debate at long last. If Harper says no, we'll be left with the same old things -- police, the courts, and inadequate social programs -- that haven't worked. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek