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.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom