Pubdate: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 Date: 10/16/2000 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Author: Mike Tropp Authors: Mike Tropp So Mayor Philip Owen has said No to safe injection sites, as an integral part of the management of public illegal drug use, for the Downtown Eastside. He was not present at the Sept. 16 meeting at the Cambie Street police building when Werner Schneider, the coordinator of drug policy for Frankfurt, Germany, detailed his city's efforts and results with a drug scene comparable to Vancouver's. Nor was Mayor Owen present the following week for the two-day conference on the same topic. Hundreds were in attendance, including experts from Germany, the U.S., Denmark, The Netherlands and Switzerland. What the Europeans have accomplished over 10 to 15 years, in getting a handle on the street scene, with its misery, deaths and costs to the larger community, we have not even begun - although we were given an analysis and concepts for management in the LeDain Commission reports of 1970 and 1972. That a man so blinkered can decide what services should and shouldn't be implemented is a conceit of stunning proportion. Mayor Owen is neither doctor, policeman, street worker, author, professor, drug user or coroner. Councillor Jennifer Clarke was present, participated and seemed to be sufficiently impressed with the guests' unvarnished detailing of their situations - and with the statistics flowing from those efforts. But her opinion is not good enough for Mayor Owen. Pity. Mike Tropp, Vancouver