Pubdate: Thu, 05 Feb 2009
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Barry Joneson
Note: Barry Joneson, a drug addict and street person until 1992, is a 
businessman and executive director of S.T.E.P.S., the Solutions to 
Empower People Society. He can be reached at: www.pacificlabour.com.

DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE NEEDS A CO-OPERATIVE APPROACH

Philip Owen, Vancouver's former mayor, walked the streets of the 
Downtown Eastside in "grim frustration at what might have been," is 
one of the opening lines of The Province's Operation Phoenix series 
on that troubled neighbourhood.

Owen was referring to the Four Pillars Strategy, which was touted as 
the answer for the addiction problems facing the DTES when it was 
brought into being several years ago.

Why didn't the Four Pillars strategy work? Why is the former mayor so 
frustrated over the lack of success over a seemingly winning strategy 
for the addiction problems of the inner city. First and foremost, I 
have to look at my own part.

As a former addict, I rallied against harm reduction and the Four 
Pillars plan like it was the plague. I thought the harm-reduction 
part of the concept would get all the attention and that the Four 
Pillars approach would fail. My opinions were based on my own 
personal journey to recovery and my egotistical and prideful belief 
that abstinence was the only way.

And while I still see abstinence as the bar to shoot for, I have 
learned along the way that there are no absolutes and there is room 
for harm reduction in a balanced and comprehensive plan to deal with 
the drug problem.

For some, recovery has ceased to be an option due to the damage 
caused by the drug use. They have passed the point of thinking in a 
manner that requires cognitive thinking and for them compassionate 
harm-reduction measures should be made available.

But that approach should be determined on an individual basis, as 
many seemingly hopeless addicts I know personally have found 
productive and responsible lives based in abstinence from drugs.

Owen is also correct when he says the DTES needs an overseer or czar; 
someone who is able to co-ordinate all the groups and agencies in the 
neighbourhood and formulate a plan so that all Four Pillars -- 
prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement -- work together.

It is particularly important for those from the harm-reduction and 
abstinence-based camps to learn to work together. Rather than seeing 
each other as enemies, they should look to each other as allies in 
the war on drug addiction.

Our economic situation will determine how much funding will be 
allocated to the DTES going forward. It seems as the number of 
non-profits seeking funding grows, the number of tax dollars 
allocated for addiction services is decreasing. Social enterprise 
should and will play a role as non-profits create business ventures 
while offering employment, life-skills training and housing options 
to the homeless and addicted.

But for the DTES to have a hope of success, there has to be a strong, 
united front to deal with a deeply entrenched and persistent enemy 
whose mission is to create misery and suffering before delivering a 
very sad death to addicts.

I hope that my vision -- DTES service providers working together 
through government-funded programs and social-enterprise businesses 
alike for the common good of the individual and society -- is not out 
of reach. Two things are certain.

The first is that a tangible solution is attainable. And second, it 
won't happen without a comprehensive plan overseen by a DTES czar 
with no strong bias toward either for harm-reduction or abstinence approaches.

When the day comes, and providers of harm-reduction initiatives and 
abstinence-based communities work together, we will see change.

Hope and change are two things we hear a lot about lately. Let's see 
if they will come to the DTES. Without change we'll continue with the 
current overlap of services in some areas, lack of services in 
others, and addicts and the community will continue to suffer.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom