Pubdate: Tue, 11 May 2004
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Page: A14
Copyright: 2004, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Mark Hume
Cited: http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/170/10/1551

POLICE HEAT DOES LITTLE TO CHANGE DRUG PICTURE

Pressure Just Shifts Trade To Other Locales In Vancouver, Downtown Study Finds

VANCOUVER -- Police drug crackdowns may end up doing more harm than good, a 
study published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests.

Researchers from the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS 
examined the impact of increased law enforcement in the Downtown Eastside 
last year, when the Vancouver Police Department tackled an open drug market 
where heroin, cocaine and other substances were sold.

While the crackdown led to trafficking charges against 162 people, and 
disrupted the open selling of drugs at the corner of Main and Hastings 
streets, it did nothing to reduce drug sales or drug use, the study found.

Evan Wood, a clinical epidemiologist and one of the lead researchers, said 
the drug market simply shifted location as police pressure increased.

"Enforcement, employed as an isolated event, doesn't work," Dr. Wood said 
yesterday.

The Vancouver Police Department rejects that conclusion, arguing that the 
enforcement succeeded in shutting down an open drug market that was making 
the area unlivable.

"Our objective was to give the community back to the people," said 
Constable Sarah Bloor, media spokeswoman for the Vancouver police. "We went 
after drug traffickers. . . . If you go into the community, you will have 
people thankful that we are down there."

Dr. Wood said that while the police action was aimed at dealers, not users, 
it didn't alter the drug picture and perhaps made it worse by pushing users 
and dealers into new neighbourhoods, creating public-health problems.

"We confirmed there were some public-order benefits at the corner of Main 
and Hastings, from the increased enforcement, but you have to look deeper 
than that," he said. "If you look away from the corner . . . there was a 
major decline in public order."

Dr. Wood said he didn't want to be critical of the Vancouver Police 
Department, which has been supportive of a needle-exchange program and a 
safe-injection site for heroin users in the Downtown Eastside.

But he feels the study supports the argument that drug abuse is a health 
problem, not a law-enforcement problem.

"From a scientific perspective, no market has ever been controlled from the 
supply side. The most effective way is to deal with the demand side," he said.

Police departments around the world use supply-side strategies to limit the 
supply of illegal drugs by arresting dealers and users. Demand-side 
strategies, on the other hand, try to reduce the demand for drugs through 
health-awareness campaigns and treatment.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom