Pubdate: Mon, 08 Aug 2016 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Nick Eagland Page: A2 DRUG VIOLENCE IS NOT INEVITABLE Dr. Anke Stallwitz, a German professor of social and community psychology, studied the drug scene of the Downtown Eastside in March. After many interviews and meetings with community groups, she offers her take on how to mitigate the violence, writes Nick Eagland. A DEALING HIERARCHY WITHOUT RULES BRINGS GREAT SUFFERING Stallwitz said she found the violence most prevalent in the East 100-block of Hastings Street, between Columbia and Main, where the dealing hierarchy is disorganized and "sanctions" aren't tied to clearly defined rules. On this block, anyone can sell drugs, unlike other blocks which are tightly controlled by high-level dealers and organizations. "If a dealer is caught selling on a block or hotel run by someone else, they'll be given a lecture," she said. "But if they continue, there's a good chance they'll get beaten up." Stallwitz said interviewees frequently cited organization and trust between dealers as key factors in safety. "If these are big, then the level of violence can be kept very low," she said. UNDOCUMENTED DRUG SEIZURES LEAD TO "MASSIVE VIOLENCE" When police confiscate a street-level dealer's drugs without providing a record of the seizure, higher-level dealers will often look to settle the debt for the lost product through "massive violence," Stallwitz said. "They say, 'Well, you just smoked it all, you injected it, you stole it,'" she said. Vancouver Police Const. Brian Montague said arrestees are given a notice to appear in court, but there are cases where police will find drugs near a person but not have enough evidence linking them to the drugs for a charge to hold up in court. In such cases, officers will seize the drugs without making an arrest and if someone seeks proof of that, they can ask the officer for a business card with a file number, he said. ESTABLISHING A CODE OF CONDUCT TO REDUCE VIOLENCE Stallwitz worked with VANDU groups to develop a "socially-responsible code of conduct" for dealers and buyers. They plan to make pamphlets to disperse in the area that will promote reflection on violent behaviour and outline clear non-violent sanctions for when rules are overstepped. "There are a lot of people who say, 'Oh, you'll always have violence in dealing, you can't change it,'" Stallwitz said. "But I've been in quite a number of different countries and looked at very different scenes, and I've seen very different levels of violence." VANDU board member Hugh Lampkin said a newly-formed "Safer Neighbourhood Action Team" will meet regularly to work on mitigating violence in the drug scene. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt