Pubdate: Thu, 09 Oct 2008
Source: Voice, The (CN BC Edu)
Copyright: 2008 Langara College
Contact:  http://www.langara.bc.ca/voice/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3592
Author: Marelle Reid
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Insite (Insite)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites)

ROAD TO RECOVERY STARTS AT INSITE

Dean Wilson used heroin for the first time when he was 10 years old.

The 53-year-old has been an addict for most of his life but wants to 
be sober now. After years of drug use he looks tired, with a thin 
face and dark circles under his eyes.

Sitting in his office at the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users 
(VANDU) near Main and Hastings, he shifts restlessly in his chair. "I 
was wired up until five months ago," Wilson said. "I've been wired 
for a long time and I'm getting old and I just don't want to do it anymore."

Wilson is the president of VANDU, an organization run by and for drug 
users in the Downtown Eastside.

He has championed the cause of health care for addicts in Vancouver 
for 10 years, and was instrumental in starting Insite, the supervised 
injection site near Main and Hastings.

Wilson and partner Anne Livingston have been pushing for years for a 
change in attitude toward drug addiction.

They argue that, like alcoholism or diabetes, drug addiction should 
be treated as a disease. They want to see the government regulate 
drugs like heroin and crack rather than prohibit them.

"For me, recovery means whatever it takes to cope with real life," 
Wilson said. "They give insulin to diabetics every day. If I need 
heroin in my body to stay calm and be able to walk out in the street, 
why not prescribe it?"

They speak with passion and frustration about their battle to start Insite.

"This isn't fun down here," Wilson said. "This isn't getting high, 
this is getting fucking low. Walk a mile in my shoes and tell me how 
much fun this is. This is serious addiction and we've got to deal with it."

Although Livingston has never used drugs, she has witnessed Wilson's 
struggles with addiction as his professional and personal partner. 
She has seen him go through many detox centres only to go back to using.

Wilson is currently on Methadone and has not used heroin for the past 
five months, but Livingston is realistic about the way the drug has 
manipulated his behaviour and personality.

"I think it's easier for people to be an addict than a failure," she 
said. "Particularly men. They have a fear of getting straight because 
they might turn out to be a nobody."

It was at Insite that Wilson was able to get treatment and a push 
towards sobriety.

"It's a good start," Livingston said. "As a place where people can go 
and get treatment, whether they're going into a methadone program or 
becoming abstinent. Whatever treatment is for them, it's going to 
hopefully shine a beacon saying this is the standard that we want."

Wilson said he believes the most important thing is for users to know 
they are cared for.

"I think the reason they should walk in there is so that they will be 
safe. So they don't have to inject in an ally," he said, adding that 
once drug users get into Insite they realize people care about them 
and they can start building on other aspects of their lives.

He said statistics have shown that people who use Insite are more 
likely to seek detox treatment.

When asked about the possibility of the federal government shutting 
down the supervised injection site, Wilson said he isn't phased.

"I don't care that the present provincial government doesn't support 
it. It works, it's down here, and it's going to stay here. If they 
want to close it down I'll just open up another guerilla site."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom