Pubdate: Thu, 01 Mar 2007
Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 Canoe Inc
Contact:  http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3837
Author: Erin Airton
Cited: http://www.castvancouver.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)

CAST A GOOD DEAL

Every once in a while, an idea so innovative and so hopeful arrives 
into the public square for discussion, that one cannot help but be 
grateful that sometimes we can put political differences aside to 
focus on making lives better.

This week, Mayor Sam Sullivan, along with Dr. Don Rix, John Reynolds, 
David Holtzman and Joy MacPhail announced the creation of the Chronic 
Addiction Substitution Treatment program.

In the simplest of terms, this program will assist hardened drug 
addicts by providing paid-for legal prescription drugs so that they 
can leave the expensive, life-destroying illegal drugs like crack and 
crystal meth behind.

Instead of hiding in dark alleys to shoot up and then breaking into 
cars or selling their bodies to get money to buy more, addicts will 
be assigned to a physician who will assess the correct legal drug for 
their needs and begin the process of peering into the layers - mental 
health or otherwise - that caused the drug abuse in the first place.

The addicts in the trial program - estimated around 700 - will be 
assigned to a doctor wherever they wish. This way they can escape the 
hell-hole of the Downtown Eastside and begin to re-establish their 
lives, without the stigma of a crack addiction and potentially 
unbearable pressure from a former dealer or pimp.

Social workers in the worst neighbourhoods in Canada will tell you 
that addiction is complicated and each addict has a different set of 
circumstances that led him or her into the deceptively comforting 
arms of drugs. However, it is almost impossible to treat the 
underlying issues without first addressing the drug abuse which leads 
to shortened lives, criminal records, disease, damaged children and 
hopelessness.

It is no secret that political leader after political leader has 
struggled with the spiralling illegal drug issue, particularly in the 
Downtown Eastside. It is one of the most visible failures of our city.

Each solution in the past addressed goals like less crime or less 
disease or less street prostitution.

These were all admirable, but the real goal should have been helping 
people get off drugs. Period.

If we know of a drug that we know will help a cancer sufferer live a 
better life we don't hesitate to prescribe it. We don't stigmatize 
that person with cancer - in fact, as a society, we wrap our arms 
tightly about him and support him in any way we can.

These are early days for this new program. It will take perseverance 
and it will take courage, especially as there are bound to be failures.

But it is so important we not allow our fellow man lie in filth and 
despair just because we are afraid.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom