Pubdate: Wed, 26 Nov 2003
Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2003 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531
Feedback: http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/default4/letters_to_editor.php4
Author: Darren Handschuh

HARD HABIT TO BREAK

Speakers at a public forum today will urge the community to get mobilized 
in the war on drugs if they want to see a positive change in Kelowna. The 
community safety and harm-reduction forum will be led by Mayor Walter Gray 
and will feature a variety of speakers from police to social agencies.

It takes place at the Mary Irwin Theatre in the Rotary Centre for the Arts, 
from 9 a.m. to noon.

The four-pillars approach - prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm 
reduction - will be at the centre of the discussion.

Daryle Roberts of the AIDS Resource Centre in Kelowna says the goal of the 
forum is to form a community task force that will look into what can be 
done about drug issues in the city.

"It has to be a community solution," said Roberts. "The community can 
influence the politicians who can make the money flow." Roberts said all 
three levels of government must unite to address the problem.

There is a glaring need for more detox beds, not only in Kelowna but 
throughout the province. With a provincial population of more than four 
million people, Roberts said there are only 67 detox beds in all of British 
Columbia.

He says there is only a 15-minute window to get an addict into a detox bed 
before they change their mind. The only detox facility in Kelowna is 
Crossroads, which has eight beds.

Roberts admits drug abuse is a big issue to tackle, but will grow into an 
even bigger problem unless some effort is made immediately to address the 
issue.

"We're a city that's growing. Projections show by 2020 our population will 
grow by 50 per cent," said Roberts.

"We have huge issues in Kelowna." Kelowna RCMP Insp. Bill McKinnon said the 
four pillars must be intertwined if any improvement is to be made. Police 
are responsible for the enforcement aspect of drugs and crime, but they are 
fighting an uphill battle without treatment, prevention and harm-reduction 
initiatives.

"It's not just an enforcement issue," said McKinnon, who will address the 
forum today.

McKinnon said police want to do more than just roust drug users. He said 
social programs are needed to get to the root of the problem. "It's a 
community problem. It's not just a policing problem," said McKinnon.

Const. Don Powell has seen first-hand the effects drugs have on people and 
the community.

The drug squad member told The Daily Courier last week he could not 
remember a robbery that was not committed by a
drug addict looking for quick cash for a fix.

Const. Heather Macdonald said crime is part of the drug-addict mentality,

"Their focus is on themselves. They don't care who they hurt," said Macdonald.

The impact of drugs on the city can be seen daily.  The Downtown Patrol 
responded to 266 drug incidents during the summer and collected 729 used 
hypodermic needles.  Kathleen Wood, a Kelowna street nurse with Outreach 
Health, said the centre exchanged 55,000 needles last year,

That number does not signify the number of people in Kelowna who are 
injecting drugs, since drug users take advantage of the program by 
returning frequently to exchange used needles for clean ones.

Roberts said that program forms one of the four pillars, under the 
harm-reduction category.

Wood said Kelowna's needle-exchange program started in 1998.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Perry Stripling