Pubdate: Tue, 11 Aug 2015
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Jordan Westfall
Page: B4

ASSISTING OVERDOSE VICTIMS A MATTER OF CHOICE?

Law enforcement: Drug users too often afraid to dial 911 when they
need aid

Do you think your spouse or partner would call 911 if they witnessed
you having a heart attack? What if they were afraid of the police
appearing and arresting them? Would they still call 911?

This is a dilemma drug users encounter on a daily basis. Many studies
suggest the most common reason for drug users not calling 911 at the
scene of an overdose is a fear of police involvement that could lead
to arrest or prosecution.

To encourage drug users to call 911, Vancouver's police department
implemented an overdose prevention policy in 2003.

This policy ensures the VPD will not respond to 911 overdose calls
unless their presence is requested by paramedics, the overdose scene
involves violence, or if the overdose victim dies. Paramedics and fire
department personnel will respond instead.

This policy was enacted to reduce drug user fears of the police
attending an overdose and subsequently confiscating paraphernalia,
drugs, or arresting people at the scene.

Research conducted in partnership with the Vancouver Area Network of
Drug Users seeks to measure awareness of the VPD's overdose prevention
policy.

Among the 28 VANDU members that were sampled, only a minority (27 per
cent) were previously aware the VPD overdose prevention policy existed.

Among drug users that were previously unaware of the policy, 12 people
(63 per cent) suggested they were "very likely" to call 911 the next
time they witnessed an overdose. Most participants indicated they
would call 911 regardless of the VPD policy.

Overall, eight respondents (28.5 per cent) suggested the VPD responded
to the last drug overdose they witnessed.

In many of the Downtown Eastside's public overdoses (in alleyways,
etc.) police arrive on request of responding paramedics, who feel
unsafe responding to the scene without their accompaniment.

Why not? Since the policy was enacted in 2003, Vancouver has
experienced a shift in how illicit drug use is addressed by
policymakers. Vancouver witnessed the establishment of Insite, North
America's only supervised injection facility, along with a Supreme
Court decision decreeing the facility was addressing a health need
rather than a criminal one. Additionally, the city's heroin-assisted
treatment research trials have been expanded into programming that has
further reframed drug use as a public health issue.

But paradoxically, overdose deaths in B.C. are higher than they have
been in a decade. One of the reasons for this is the sale of drug
called fentanyl, which is sold as heroin or OxyContin while being much
more potent.

The bulk of this increase is in jurisdictions outside
Vancouver.

In 2013, there were 64 overdose deaths on Vancouver Island, a 37.5 per
cent jump from the year before. The Interior region had an increase of
33 per cent over the previous year.

None of these jurisdictions have implemented policies that have
reframed drug use as a public health issue rather than a criminal one.
Vancouver is the only jurisdiction in Canada to have a policy of
police not responding to overdose 911 calls.

Fortunately, most of the research participants had no qualms about
calling 911. Credit that to the engagement between drug user groups,
the VPD, researchers and the City of Vancouver that led to a community
rethinking how drug use should be addressed within the city.

What about the other jurisdictions in British Columbia?

If you're a drug user in Abbotsford, where the political leadership is 
infamous for chestnuts like this, from former mayor Bruce Banman: "If 
you are a drug user, (you are) a criminal. You're not a helpless victim. 
You are, and choose to be, a criminal. It is an illegal activity that 
you are doing. If you are a pedophile, you are a criminal. And how we 
deal with criminals is we lock ' em up."

You might be forgiven for believing that calling 911 at the scene of
an overdose will mean an arrest, or even a prison sentence. Perception
is everything.

What would you do?

Jordan Westfall is a master's candidate at Simon Fraser University's 
School of Public Policy.
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MAP posted-by: Matt