Pubdate: Wed, 03 May 2006
Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Canoe Inc
Contact:  http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3837
Author: Irwin Loy, 24 Hours
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Downtown+Eastside

SPREAD SERVICES OUT, SAYS COP

Future harm reduction initiatives must be spread throughout the city, 
not just restricted to the troubled Downtown Eastside, says one of 
Vancouver's top cops.

Insp. Scott Thompson, who is second-in-command of the city's 
southeast quadrant, said the region's drug users had become "cordoned 
off" in one specific area, since their support networks - like needle 
exchanges, for example - were limited to the DTES.

"Every community has to have a piece of this. I know it's not going 
to make me popular," Thompson said yesterday. "But some communities 
clearly do not want to have these facilities nearby."

It's estimated one third of the DTES's 16,000 residents use drugs. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake