Pubdate: Fri, 23 Mar 2007
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 Vancouver Courier
Contact:  http://www.vancourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474
Author: Robert Mangelsdorf, Contributing writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)

CITY'S POINT MAN ON DRUGS A WINNER

City Drug Policy Coordinator Donald MacPherson has won a national 
award for his efforts to improve the lives of drug users.

The Kaiser Award for Excellence recognizes people and groups who 
promote physical and mental health through drug harm reduction 
methods. MacPherson, who was responsible for drafting the city's Four 
Pillar drug policy, won in the Public Policy category.

"It's such a dire situation that sometimes it's nice to get the 
recognition that something positive is happening," he said.

The Four Pillar approach MacPherson championed focuses on harm 
reduction, prevention, treatment and enforcement, and many of the 
policy's measures have been credited with saving lives in the 
Downtown Eastside.

Those measures include Insite, the supervised injection site; the 
North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI), which provides 
heroin addicts with free prescribed heroin; and the city's recent 
Chronic Addiction Substitution Treatment (CAST) program, which will 
provide legal prescription drug substitutes to crack cocaine and 
crystal meth users.

"I think generally people like the idea of the Four Pillars," 
MacPherson said. "They'd just like to see more funding and more 
variety in the types of programs available."

Since 2001, when the Four Pillars policy was adopted, MacPherson has 
seen a change in how people view drug policy.

"I think most people get it, they understand that you need both a 
robust health approach as well as a very coordinated enforcement 
approach to the illegal side of things," he said.

In 2005, MacPherson authored a report suggesting non-addictive 
psychoactive drugs such as peyote and magic mushrooms could be used 
to treat hardcore drug addictions.

MacPherson says the report likely would not and could not have been 
written 10 years earlier-evidence that public opinion has shifted to 
more progressive and open-minded solutions to drug abuse. He hopes 
the award will spark other cities' interest in a Four Pillar approach 
to drug problems.

Winners of the award receive a $10,000 grant to be given to the 
charity of their choice.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom