Pubdate: Thu, 13 Jun 2013
Source: Monday Magazine (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Monday Publications
Contact: http://mondaymag.com/contact/
Website: http://www.mondaymag.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1150
Author: Simon Nattrass

POLICE HARASS HARM-REDUCTION HELP

Victoria Police Harass Service Providers.

To read the press releases, policy reports and five-year plans that 
swirl around The Capital, you'd think that everyone around here is in 
favour of harm reduction. The Vancouver Island Health Authority, the 
Provincial government, even the City of Victoria have all signed off 
on countless reports extolling the benefits of needle exchanges, safe 
injection sites, and other essential health services.

For years, the Society of Living Illicit Drug Users (SOLID) has 
distributed safer drug use supplies to people in the downtown core. 
Among other services, the peer-run organization offers counselling 
and removes discarded needles from high-traffic areas around town. It 
seems, to me, that anyone who supports harm reduction services would, 
by extension, support the organizations that provide those services - 
right? Wrong. Last week, an outreach worker with SOLID was stopped by 
Victoria Police for carrying drug paraphernalia - part of the job 
when you're handing out supplies to drug users. Despite displaying a 
SOLID ID card and handing over a business card, the officer still 
checked the worker's record for outstanding warrants. Minutes later, 
the same outreach worker was questioned by two officers while 
searching for used needles in a local park.

While this may seem like an honest misunderstanding, SOLID has 
recorded a total of six similar incidents since late last year. 
During three of those incidents, police immediately searched 
individuals after they had received supplies from outreach workers. 
Other incidents involved officers following outreach workers along 
their routes.

"People are nervous to access harm reduction supplies in a visible 
way," says Ashley Mollison, SOLID program coordinator.

The constant presence of police, says Mollison, means that drug users 
are less likely to engage with outreach workers for fear of being 
singled out. While Mollison has attempted to resolve tensions between 
her organization and the police through official channels, solutions 
have yet to materialize. In a letter to authorities, Mollison notes 
that police presence prevents drug users from accessing necessary 
health services, adding that "the result is individuals hiding out 
and moving outside the downtown core into surrounding neighbourhoods 
to find safer places to use."

The brawn-over-brain approach of VicPD highlights the essential 
problem of harm reduction here in The Capital and beyond. Even with 
the support of service providers, governments and residents, all it 
takes to ensure the continued marginalization of drug users is the 
zealous enforcement of the War on Drugs.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom