But we don't: We know long-term treatment and support is the answer, but fail to supply the resources This province has an addiction problem that requires an intervention. Not only have over-prescription and illicit drug use pushed up the addicted population enormously in the last decade, mental health and treatment services have not kept pace. What's worse, what we're doing hasn't made sense for a long, long time and is costing us a fortune in wasted public spending. [continues 832 words]
Newly published paper warns designing treatment around detoxification programs is ' dangerous' This is a chronic disease, something that is going to have to be fought day by day over a long period - potentially a lifetime. Addiction to heroin and other opioids is a long-term, chronic disease that cannot simply be fixed with a few weeks or months on methadone, a group of B. C.- based researchers argue in a newly released paper. Designing treatment based on the belief that most addicts can become drug-free quickly - or even at all - is ineffective and dangerous, the report warns. [continues 774 words]
Eliminating Pot Possession Charges Would Ease Court Backlogs, Fall in Step With Other Western Jurisdictions With three western American states mulling legalized marijuana and the Union of B.C. Municipalities set to debate it, a new group wants the province to stop enforcing the federal criminal ban on pot. Several prominent cannabis crusaders have drafted a proposed law, called the Sensible Policing Act, and are asking for a provincial commission to study the regulation and taxation of the demonized plant. Vancouver lawyer Kirk Tousaw said the would-be act instructs police to stop arresting adults for possession, while minors still would not be allowed to possess pot. [continues 468 words]
Re: Provide drugs to addicts, April 21 Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan refers to his plan to give addicts free drugs as "innovative." Oh, Sam. Giving addicts free drugs is not innovative, nor is it especially compassionate or kind. It's relatively inexpensive. It's perhaps a short-term solution (as drugs of any kind generally are) to the distress of exclusion and the pain of withdrawal. Drug addiction in and of itself is not a disability or an illness. It's a result of a series of conditions and decisions made by government, policy-makers, medical professionals, service providers and the people using the drugs. People don't need heroin or crystal meth in the same way that some people need insulin or wheelchairs (as Sullivan and others have suggested). People need access to housing, educational opportunities, something to believe in, strong social bonds: a stake in the future of their city, and the resources and responsibility to engage. [continues 88 words]
So far, none of the discussions about giving free drugs to addicts have included requiring a work component (transitional with support services). This would give addicts a marvellous opportunity to eventually have a productive life and, therefore, possibly get off drugs. A crucial part of any treatment program should include the addict taking some responsibility such as working, even part-time at a low stress job, and then moving on to full-time employment. Also, this would give taxpayers a reason to support such a program. Jeff Salmon Vancouver [end]
I support Mayor Sam Sullivan's idea of supplying drugs to addicts. The police and the court system have been ineffective in reducing the number of addicts and the myriad problems they bring to our society. Treatment, especially if it is coerced, is generally ineffective in the long run. Why not give Sullivan's suggestion a try? Education probably is a better way to discourage people from going down the drug path. I also think Ian Mulgrew hit the nail right on the head in regards to Senator Larry Campbell's criticism of Sullivan's idea. Irene Sam Vancouver [end]
Re: Mayor's drug policy plan long overdue, Ian Mulgrew, April 24 It is interesting that Ian Mulgrew defends the notion of free drugs in the Downtown Eastside by assuring readers that it isn't going to involve giving free cocaine to stockbrokers for "a weekend binge." This reflects the bias of dilettante enablers who suggest that all addicts are helpless victims of circumstance who have had no opportunity to change their ways on their downward spiral. I would suggest that Mulgrew and his ilk stop telling us to look to old Europe in order to adjust our approach to drug control. In case he hasn't noticed, the values of this city are being driven by our growing Asian culture, not Scotland and Switzerland. He might wish to give us some insight as to how heroin is controlled in Beijing and Mumbai. Victor Godin Vancouver [end]
Re: Provide free drugs to addicts, mayor says, April 21 Supply free drugs? Is Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan out of his mind? As a poverty level, single mom with three kids and two jobs, I say the line has got to be drawn right now. If anyone is spending my tax dollars for drugs, those drugs had better be for me! I know many single moms who have to work at numerous jobs. It's a slap in the face to us that politicians are talking about supplying drugs to people while we do our damnedest to keep our children off them. Shame on Sullivan. Courtney Findlay 100 Mile House [end]
Here are the rational three pillars to eliminate the Downtown Eastside drug scene: Zero tolerance, immediate arrest and work camps. Implementing these pillars would solve the looming labour shortage, give people a purpose and would not be another drain on society. The fourth pillar: Don't listen to past and present mayors. Larry Robinson White Rock [end]
Standards Needed To Repair Houses Used To Produce Pot, Crystal Meth, CMHC Says Canada's leading home-mortgage insurer will soon offer advice for fixing houses that were once used as marijuana-growing operations and meth labs. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has conducted research into how houses with growing operations are affected by drug production, and should be releasing its findings later this year. Marie Dyck, senior fraud advisor for CMHC, told an audience of lenders, brokers and real estate agents in Saskatoon on Friday that there are currently no standards in place on how to properly rehabilitate such a house. [continues 154 words]
Supreme Court Ruled Ottawa Can Criminalize Marijuana, Now It's Up To The Prime Minister To Choose Canada's Path Thanks to the Supreme Court of Canada's recent decision, the legal uncertainty surrounding Canada's marijuana laws has been resolved. Now it's up to Prime Minister Paul Martin and his government to similarly resolve the political uncertainty around the laws. In a 6-3 decision, the court said "there is no free-standing constitutional right to smoke 'pot' for recreational purposes," in response to the arguments advanced by the appellants, Vancouver "pot activist" David Malmo-Levine, Victoria web-page designer Christopher Clay, and Langley's Victor Caine. The court also unanimously upheld the law prohibiting marijuana trafficking. [continues 623 words]
From Grief to Action is Better Fit For Schools Than Wild's Rambling Film Pitch For Safe-Injection Sites Generally I like a film that leaves me squirming, at least better than I like one that leaves me yawning, or cowering under my husband's "I told you so" glare. What I really hate is when I get all three in one, as happened last month at the premiere of local film-maker Nettie Wild's documentary, Fix: Story of an Addicted City -- a rambling, rhetoric-laden pitch for safe-injection sites that doubled as a fawning farewell tribute to Mayor Philip Owen. [continues 972 words]
Some Readers Think Helping Addicts Out Of The Abyss Is Better Than Enabling Them To Make Drug Suppliers Rich I am not sure whether the right wing or the left wing or either has a "fix" for the drug mess down town. However, Sergeant Al Arsenault is dead on. Addiction is a disease, whether the drug is alcohol or any other kind of drug. The ultimate goal of any therapeutic intervention -- be it medical, counselling, or whatever combination of approaches -- is to empower the individual to overcome the disease. [continues 57 words]
Some Readers Think Helping Addicts Out Of The Abyss Is Better Than Enabling Them To Make Drug Suppliers Rich Richard Patton's Insight article is the most down-to-earth and realistic assessment of the situation on Hastings that I have ever seen. I hope all levels of government take note of the common sense solutions Mr. Patton has suggested. Obviously the "War on Drugs" is not working and simply serves to keep drugs on the black market, which is untaxed and mostly profit. New and improved strategies to clean up "skid row" are long overdue. Heather Hepburn Burnaby [end]
Some readers think helping addicts out of the abyss is better than enabling them to make drug suppliers rich The story about a right-wing fix to clean up the drug mess was finally a different perspective. All the candidates running for mayor seem to be saying, some more full-heartedly than others, that safe injection sites are the only way to go. I also feel compassion for addicted fellow humans and I don't support an American-style war on drugs. But there are so many questions I feel are not being dealt with. [continues 158 words]
Some readers think helping addicts out of the abyss is better than enabling them to make drug suppliers rich I agree that "addicts need the cure, not the poison," as Vancouver police Sergeant Al Arsenault suggests (Officer sees right wing as fix for drug mess, Oct. 26). I am a recovering addict and the article states a point of view that the vast majority of addicts in recovery agree with. But one would have to wonder why he would take a risk and let his point of view be known. After all, it's at the very least controversial in light of all the efforts to promote harm reduction. [continues 239 words]
Some Readers Think Helping Addicts Out Of The Abyss Is Better Than Enabling Them To Make Drug Suppliers Rich Articles in The Sun last week were illuminative on several related points: When Vancouver mayoral hopeful Jennifer Clarke was reported as describing the Vancouver police department as dysfunctional, the term seemed a might strong; however, the pronouncements of Sergeant Al Arsenault illustrate Ms. Clarke's point. One wonders if the good sergeant wouldn't be of more service to the city in the traffic division, or perhaps at the jail. [continues 88 words]
Downtown Eastside: A fix at last? Part One Of Our Progress Report Finds Change Is Slow, But Moving Ahead Three hundred and sixty-three days ago, Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen announced the Vancouver version of the War on Drugs. Surrounded by a large crowd of curious but skeptical journalists in the standard-issue glitter of a hotel meeting room, Owen said the city had developed its own plan for what has become an international drug crisis -- a crisis that, locally, has created an open drug market along one of Vancouver's main downtown streets and spawned an epidemic of drug-overdose deaths and drug-related disease, along with the highest property-crime rate in the country. [continues 977 words]
Every time I see Robert Downey Jr.'s face in the newspaper, I stab it with a fork. No, I don't know the man. This is simply my way of achieving some much needed relief from what has become a virtual avalanche of celebrity drug chronicles, of which Mr. Downey's is only the most egregious example. How many times, Oh Lord, must we hear about Mr. Downey's drug-taking, Mr. Downey's latest bust for possession, Mr. Downey being hauled up before the judge, the conditions of Mr. Downey's latest sentencing, the implications for Mr. Downey's role on Ally McBeal (I admit it; I'm a fan), Mr. Downey's violation of said parole conditions, Mr. Downey's next hauling up before the judge, and so on, ad nauseum? The answer apparently is: indefinitely. [continues 687 words]
The Gastown-Chinatown-Strathcona-Victory Square Community Alliance is so against Vancouver's proposed drug strategy that it is lashing out at a civic employee who is responsible for helping residents to revitalize the area. The alliance, which claims to represent more than 30,000 citizens in the four communities, recently demanded the resignation of Wendy Au, the local community project manager. If a group is upset about how the drug issue is being treated by City Hall, then the city's drug coordinator, the elected councillors and the mayor should be the target -- not Au, whose duty is to coordinate the Downtown Eastside Revitalization Project, which involves trying to find a solution to the drug scourge. [continues 657 words]
