Pubdate: Wed, 26 Apr 2006
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Vancouver Courier
Contact:  http://www.vancourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474
Author: Allen Garr
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)

OWEN BACKS MAYOR ON DRUGS

There was a modicum of applause for Mayor Sam Sullivan last week when 
he said he wanted to give addicted sex trade workers free drugs.

Sullivan has said repeatedly that he supports the city's Four Pillars 
approach of prevention, enforcement, treatment and harm reduction in 
dealing with the city's drug problems. But in his clearest public 
statement since becoming mayor, and on the eve of an international 
conference on harm reduction scheduled for next week in Vancouver, he 
told the Vancouver Sun he clearly favours harm reduction and 
questions the value of the other pillars.

It has caused quite a stir. But just as important, it has put an 
issue on the table that faded away in the midst of the last 
administration when former mayor Larry Campbell seemed to run out of 
enthusiasm.

Sullivan's comments were prompted by a rumour. The mayor's office was 
contacted and told that someone was willing to pony up $500,000 to 
underwrite a harm reduction program that involved the distribution of 
drugs to addicts.

For months, Sullivan has been privately discussing the possibility of 
creating a maintenance program to provide addicts with heroin or 
cocaine. He is, so far, vague as to how that would happen, who would 
operate the program and who would receive drugs.

Some members of his own party think he's nuts. Some are annoyed that 
he is undermining a perfectly good city policy, the Four Pillars 
approach. You may agree.

And you can bet the Vancouver Police Department is a bit bent now 
that the man who is also chair of the police board says that, after 
three attempts by the cops to clean up the drug mess on the Downtown 
Eastside "once and for all," there are no real signs of success.

But get this: Philip Owen, the granddaddy of the city's drug policy, 
says Sullivan is right on the money. The war on drugs is a failure. 
Treatment has very limited success in completely turning people away 
from their addictions. "I support what Sam is doing," Owen told me this week.

Within the harm reduction community, the activists and city hall 
staff who champion the supervised injection site, there is support, too.

Sullivan has always been the most radical politician in these parts 
when it came to seeking solutions to the city's drug problems, from 
as far back as the days when he was a bit of a flake on the fringes 
of the NPA council.

His belief, blasted out as a front page headline last Friday that 
drugs should be given to addicts who he considers "disabled," has 
been around for years. The only difference-and it is significant-is 
that now he is the mayor and in charge of the cops.

And one can only assume he won't be planning to hand out drugs the 
way he once did.

Sullivan got into a pickle during his mayoral campaign when he 
confirmed he bought crack cocaine for an addict who smoked up in the 
back of Sullivan's van. That story caused an earlier incident to be 
reprised: Sullivan told a reporter he gave a sex trade worker money 
so she could buy heroin rather that raising the dough by turning tricks.

Sullivan was on a one-man harm reduction campaign. On reading about 
this during the civic election, Police Chief Jamie Graham asked the 
RCMP to investigate the man who could become his boss. The RCMP is 
still waiting for a statement from Sullivan on his role in the 
matter. Sullivan told one reporter he has been too busy to deal with 
what he considers a "personal matter."

But even those who support Sullivan say there has to be more than 
drug maintenance. When he met with sex trade workers to discuss his 
plans two months ago, they reminded him it won't work unless he can 
provide them with housing, financial security, skills building 
programs and treatment.

And that will take a lot more than $500,000.