Pubdate: Wed, 04 Jul 2007 Source: Quesnel Cariboo Observer (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 Quesnel Cariboo Observer Contact: http://www.quesnelobserver.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1260 Author: Tom Fletcher Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms) SUMMER IN THE CITY, NOT SO PRETTY VICTORIA -- The "honour system" has finally been abandoned on Greater Vancouver buses. The establishment of "fare paid zones" beyond the driver's seat and at least the theoretical appearance of someone to check tickets is an effort to stem the problem of people refusing to pay and assaulting drivers who remind them the ride isn't quite free. It seems once a city reaches a certain size, it doesn't have enough honour left for honour systems. Surveys indicated Ottawa doesn't yet have bus anarchy, but Toronto does. A relieved Vancouver bus driver interviewed on TV said being spit on wasn't the worst of it. He's also been punched, kicked and pulled from his seat while the bus was moving. Here in Victoria the Canada Day fireworks has been known for a finale involving drunken brawls on the upper deck of those London-style buses. Victoria's just reaching the critical mass where such night-time public events are surrendered and the downtown streets given over to purveyors of the nightly buffet of blood, pee and pavement pizza. Then there is the illegal drug problem. Victoria's mayor still believes in something called a "safe injection site," as the city looks for a new home for its blight of a "needle exchange program." Nanaimo's pilot project to hand out crack pipes has sputtered out like a spent Bic lighter, due to threats from ungrateful recipients. Capital Regional District, which still can't keep its emergency radio system working, is right on the ball. They've just instituted a crackdown, not on crack, but on outdoor patio smoking. New provincial regulations are being worked out now to bar smoking around doorways and windows as of next year, but that's not far or fast enough for some urban social engineers. Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan is offering a bit of fresh air on the drug problems that plague his city. He's moving on from the "safe injection" and "needle exchange" stopgaps that promote continued abuse. Give the hardcore addicts legal pills that approximate the ups and downs of cocaine and heroin, he suggests, and at least they have a hope of getting off the mean streets. But the most sensible strategy is coming from Vancouver-Burrard MLA Lorne Mayencourt, who earlier pioneered the radical notion that pedestrians, like bus drivers, shouldn't have to put up with being threatened or assaulted. He has been touring the province to promote the model of the San Patrignano treatment community in Italy, a remote self-contained rural facility where people can check in and stay for three to five years, drug-free and working at a real job. It has more than 2,000 people in voluntary attendance, and claims a 75 per cent success rate. Mayencourt has identified a preferred location, a former radar station called Baldy Hughes located 30 km southwest of Prince George. It offers a dorm, mobile home pads, welding and woodworking shops, a bowling alley, curling rink and gym. Prince George already has its share of big-city problems, being a service centre for the medical, social and penal needs of the province's north. But it too could benefit from this refreshing approach to low-level crime, panhandling and prostitution intertwined with drugs in urban centres. It seems like a better idea than waiting for Vancouver or Victoria to develop something that actually has a chance of working. Community courts Vancouver is the site of another pilot project, a community court. Attorney General Wally Oppal has high hopes for this project, which has hearings underway led by provincial court judge Thomas Gove. The court will deal with the break-ins and other low-level offences that form the revolving door for drug addicted repeat offenders. The idea is to direct offenders to treatment, housing and employment services to break the cycle of crime and drugs. If it's successful, community courts would be established in other B.C. centres. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom