Pubdate: Fri, 07 Oct 2011
Source: Metro (Vancouver, CN BC)
Copyright: 2011 Metro Canada
Contact: http://www.metronews.ca/Vancouver/comment/lettereditor
Website: http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3775
Author: Matt Kieltyka
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Insite
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Four+Pillars

TEN YEARS OF FOUR PILLARS IN VANCOUVER

Prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement.

It's been 10 years since the Four Pillars drug strategy has been 
official policy in Vancouver -- and although the comprehensive model 
of dealing with the city's drug epidemic has worked, it hasn't been 
on the scale the policy's author envisioned in 2001.

"We're getting there slowly, but scale is the one thing that's been 
really difficult for me and still bogs (the strategy) down," Donald 
MacPherson admits. "When I wrote the policy, I really thought this 
could elicit a bigger response."

The prime example of MacPherson's frustration is the Four Pillars' 
poster child: the Insite supervised injection site.

When the Downtown Eastside facility opened in 2003, MacPherson says 
it was long overdue.

And despite all research pointing to the benefits of the site, the 
federal government's staunch opposition to it (until they were 
finally shot down by the Supreme Court of Canada last week) has 
limited Insite's impact and stopped offshoots from sprouting up.

"If your building is on fire, you don't go through a long, drawn-out 
public process," MacPherson says. "The DTES was on fire. It's been 
eight years and we still don't have another one."

The policy expert says there's a need for more supervised injection 
sites, but they don't have to be as large as Insite. Clinics, 
shelters and other facilities could easily incorporate harm-reduction 
practices, he said.

Despite the frustration MacPherson feels at times, it's not all doom 
and gloom. Vancouver has made great inroads in shelter, housing, 
cutting down on bloodborne infection rates and overdose deaths in the 
10 years since the Four Pillars were set in stone.

The policy works and MacPherson hopes that the strategy can kick into 
second gear now that Insite's legal battle is over.

"If you walk anywhere in Vancouver, it's still a big issue," he said. 
"Let's really take a good look at the need and address the problems."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom