Pubdate: Mon, 21 Apr 2003
Source: Kelowna Capital News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2003, West Partners Publishing Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.kelownacapnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1294
Author: Barry Gerding
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms)

DRUG ADDICTION: FORCING OURSELVES TO FACE REALITY

Afilm that chronicles Vancouver's struggles to deal with drug addiction on 
the notorious downtown Eastside of the city is coming to Kelowna.

Called Fix, The Story of an Addicted City, the documentary has earned rave 
reviews and national media attention for its up-close and personal 
portrayal of a real story about real people, a story the director said she 
could never have had the imagination to dream up on her own.

Nettie Wild said the film is about to be given a featured showing tour in 
theatres around the southern Interior, including a three-day stop in 
Kelowna May 2-4, where the documentary will be shown at the Paramount Theatre.

While interior community residents in cities like Kelowna may feel a sense 
of detachment because the film focuses on Vancouver, Wild says that 
perception is a big mistake.

"The reality about the Eastside is that most of the people who are down 
there, living on the streets, addicted to drugs, have come from other 
communities, just like Kelowna," Wild says. "It's not simply a Vancouver 
problem, that is just where these people tend to end up."

She talks about a recent preview the film received in Cranbrook, a city 
living within what she calls a very unhealthy dynamic--a drug problem 
exists that nobody wants to acknowledge and the code of silence ensures 
nobody will ever hear about it.

"There are five ski hills around Cranbrook and we know that where ski hills 
are located, the incidence of injected drug use goes way up. Communities 
like that are just kidding themselves if they try to sweep the problem 
under the rug," Wild says.

"The reality is everywhere we go to talk about this film, we hear from 
local residents that their community is different from Vancouver. But if I 
ask for a show of hands how many people know of someone who is snorting, 
shooting or smoking cocaine on a regular basis, about 75 per cent of the 
audience raises their hands."

Wild is hopeful that discussion forums held with the audience after the 
showing of her documentary will open people up to talking about the local 
drug problem and begin to chip away at the pervasive public attitude that 
drug addiction is not a medical illness, but rather a long-stigmatized 
stereotype of an individual's personal weakness.

"We have found that these screenings and the forums that follow have tended 
to open up discussion about the unspeakables, accepting the fact that drug 
addiction is a problem in their community and needs to be addressed."

Appearing at the Kelowna screening forums will be former Vancouver mayor 
Philip Owen, a pivotal political figure in the documentary, and James 
Tigchelaar, with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's provincial street 
nurses program.

Owen offers a fascinating character study in Fix because of his commitment 
to help clean up the Eastside by advocating safe injection clinics for 
chronic street drug addicts.

A popular mayor from one of Vancouver's wealthiest families, Owen elected 
to stick his neck out to bring about social service change on the Eastside, 
one example being the safe injection sites.

That stance caused him to be kicked out of his civic party in a political 
cue that was embarrassingly played out in the Vancouver media.

In turn, his former party was wiped out at the polls, defeated by former 
Vancouver city coroner Larry Campbell and his left-wing civic slate.

"That was part of the magic that happened during this process.

"You had a super conservative guy from an extremely wealthy family forming 
alliances with a fellow like Dean Wilson, another character we portray in 
the film who is a very loud, very brash, very charismatic, a recovering 
addict himself who together realize what needs to be done has to be put 
ahead of political expediency."
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager