Pubdate: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 Vancouver Courier Contact: http://www.vancourier.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474 Author: Mike Howell Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/InSite Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) MEGGS SLAMS MAYOR'S STRATEGY Sullivan's Drug Plan Tailored To Tories Mayor Sam Sullivan's pitch to Ottawa in 2006 to endorse his drug treatment plan included the belief that "Conservative leadership can ameliorate the greatest threat to livability in Vancouver." The comment is contained in documents and briefing notes obtained by Geoff Meggs in a Freedom of Information request from city hall. Meggs is seeking a council nomination with Vision Vancouver and was executive assistant to former mayor Larry Campbell. He said the comment is evidence of Sullivan's support for the Conservative government's views on drug addiction. They contrast with medical researchers' findings that the city's drug injection site, Insite, is an effective harm reduction tool. "Clearly there's a partisan pitch in this briefing note," Meggs said. "In my view, it was inappropriate because he was advancing a very controversial approach and pandering to what we see now is a really full-on Conservative attack on drug policy in the city of Vancouver." In a speech Monday to the Canadian Medical Association, Health Minister Tony Clement questioned the peer-reviewed studies on Insite and encouraged physicians to "affirm the importance of prevention and treatment." "Insite offers no hope," said Clement in his speech, a copy of which was obtained by the Courier. "It is a surrender to a culture of disease and death. But every Canadian is worthy of treatment. Every Canadian has value." The briefing notes also show that Sullivan renamed his drug plan and called it POST, or Public Order Substitution Treatment. The public and journalists have only known the plan as CAST, or Chronic Addiction Substitution Treatment. The documents aren't dated but handwriting at the top of the briefing notes indicate they were "a draft as of Friday, Dec. 1." The most recent Friday, Dec. 1 was in 2006. Sullivan travelled to Ottawa in December of that year and met with several ministers, including Clement. Sullivan's drug plan, which calls for medical doctors to prescribe legal drugs as substitutes to addicts, has yet to get approval from Health Canada. The mayor wants a three-year trial that would involve 800 addicts. The briefing notes point out that many addicts have HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, mental illness, fetal alcohol syndrome, and lack of adequate nutrition and housing. They can be described as "walking palliative," the notes said. "[They are] people who if they were living a more 'normal' Canadian life would have access to pain and other medications in order to mitigate their health issues and so as not to spread infectious diseases," the notes said. Meggs said the "walking palliative" description is macabre and suggests that health care providers are "simply managing them to death instead of supporting them to overcome a health problem." Sullivan's support for the Conservative government was evident when he spoke to the Courier in June 2007 as he reflected on his first 18 months in office. At the time, Sullivan said he tailored his approach to drug initiatives around the fact that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his party questioned the success of Insite. "I've tried to structure my proposals around the thinking of people in Ottawa, as well as the needs of people with drug addictions," he said. "Certainly, it's clear to me that there isn't a great enthusiasm for [supervised injection sites], and I actually share the view that we need ultimately to have different and new innovative approaches." Sullivan is in China this week and was unavailable for comment before the Courier's deadline. David Hurford, the mayor's assistant, said the mayor's approach to tailoring drug policy to the ruling Conservatives makes sense. "You need to tailor your message to their agenda--that's just smart, that's how you get things done," Hurford said. "You need to tailor your message to the government of the day." He added that Sullivan has always supported Insite and called for its operating licence to be extended. Insite remains open because of a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that gives the federal government until June 30, 2009 to amend the country's drug laws to allow for medical use of drugs if tied to a health care initiative. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom