Pubdate: Fri, 02 Jun 2006
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Doug Ward
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

MAYOR RELIEVED AS DRUG PROBE ENDS

No Criminal Charges Will Be Laid In Connection With Incidents Involving Addicts

Mayor Sam Sullivan hopes the controversy over his earlier decisions 
to pay for illegal drug purchases is over now that the RCMP has 
decided against pressing charges.

"I am glad the cloud that has hung over me for the last many months 
has now left," Sullivan said Thursday.

The RCMP announced in a brief press statement that there would be no 
criminal charges stemming from its investigation into Sullivan's actions.

The mayor, speaking from Ottawa on a conference call, said his move 
to give money to the drug addicts was motivated by "true concern for 
their plight.

"I don't believe what I did was wrong," he said, "but I can tell you 
I wouldn't do it again."

He said he believes "what I did was not the right way to help people 
with drug addictions."

Media reports about Sullivan giving money to drug users caused him 
problems during the civic election. His rivals criticized him for his actions.

The controversy prompted Vancouver police Chief Jamie Graham to ask 
the RCMP to investigate his activities.

Sullivan's interactions with two drug users were detailed in previous 
Vancouver Sun stories. His decision to provide heroin to a 
20-year-old woman working as a prostitute in his neighbourhood, then 
Collingwood, was described in a feature story in 2000.

In September 2005, just after Sullivan was chosen as the mayoral 
candidate for the Non-Partisan Association, a Vancouver Sun story 
detailed how he bought crack in 2001 for Downtown Eastside resident 
Shawn Millar and let him smoke it in his van.

Sullivan said he has always been honest about his connection with the 
two illegal drug users.

While he regrets the two incidents, Sullivan still strongly believes 
Canada's drug laws have to change.

He said his relationship with the two people with drug addictions has 
"made me even more convinced that I must do whatever I can to change 
public policy so that additional people with addictions won't have to suffer."

In April, Sullivan said drugs or drug substitutes should be provided 
for addicts in an effort to protect victimized women in the Downtown 
Eastside and deal with Vancouver's social-disorder problems by the 
2010 Olympics.

Sullivan has been consulting with experts and community groups to 
explore ways of initiating a drug-maintenance program.

Asked what he learned during his meetings with the two addicts, 
Sullivan said: "I learned that no one wants to be a person with a 
drug addiction. They lead very desperate lives and there is so much 
harm that is done to people with addictions and so much harm that is 
done to the communities they live in.

"And I believe we need a different approach."

Sullivan said the controversy has had no effect on his recent 
meetings with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and federal cabinet ministers.
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