Realwomen of BC - Archives - April2003

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A Tale of Two Cities “To inject or not to inject, that is the question,” seems to have been answered by the City of Vancouver in the affirmative. It has been known for a number of years now that Vancouver has a very serious drug problem. How to improve the situation has been the cause of many debates. Larry Campbell, the new Mayor of Vancouver, clearly stated during his election campaign, that he wanted to establish safe injection sites. This project is part of the fourth pillar, called “Harm Reduction,” that Vancouver has embarked upon. The other three pillars are Prevention, Law Enforcement, and Rehabilitation. It seems, however, that Vancouver is focusing on Harm Reduction more than on any of the other areas in the quest to conquer the drug problem. First there was needle exchange. From there we moved to safe injection sites. The next step will be free heroin and other drugs. Money is pumped into these programs while very little is put into prevention programs and rehabilitation. The City of Surrey also struggles with the drug issue. However, this city has decided to go a different route in combating this problem. The majority of the City Councilors strongly believe that the way to get a handle on the drug situation is through prevention and rehabilitation. In an interview with Diane Watts, City of Surrey Councilor, she talks about the approach Surrey is taking in this regard. Diane Watts is the Chairperson for the Drug Crime Task Force that includes about 45 to 50 people comprised of members of parliament, members of the legislative assembly, cabinet ministers, the BC Chief Coroner, the Chief Medical Health Officer for the Fraser Region, several individuals from the Fraser Health Authority, addiction specialists, Surrey Council Members, Surrey School Trustees, the President of the District Parents Association, youth representation and other key individuals. According to Councilor Watts, opinions on how to approach the drug problem vary greatly within this group. However, discussions ensue around a common thread and how to build from that ground of common area to help the community of Surrey. The medical community believes that Marijuana and other drugs should be available for ‘medicinal’ purposes. Some believe that education and prevention are the way to go. The Task Force has been broken down into prevention, treatment, education (community and school), and enforcement. The smallest part is the law enforcement component while the largest part is education, prevention, and treatment. Despite its population of 350,000 people, Surrey does not have a detox- or treatment facility and the city is working very hard to bring that about. Also, Surrey has the most children per capita in the Province of British Columbia. For that reason the city wants to put a lot of energy into prevention and education to give children the tools they need to make positive choices so that they will not end up on drugs and even on the streets. While Vancouver focuses on its “Harm Reduction” pillar which includes opening up safe injection sites, Surrey is focusing on prevention, education, and rehabilitation. It seems that the Government of British Columbia has decided to go the route of Harm Reduction and no funding has been coming to Surrey. A lot of money has been funneled into the downtown east side and according to Councilor Watts, the Government of BC has recently invested another $20m into that area. As the provincial government does not seem to want to partner with Surrey in building rehabilitation centres, Surrey has been working with the private sector to get such centres established in Surrey. Even the federal government is ignoring Surrey. As the city has decided not to go along with safe injection sites any federal funding goes to Vancouver. Surrey wants to concentrate on prevention beginning with pregnant mothers. The young women on the streets need educating on the harm substance abuse inflicts on their unborn children. These young women need help to get off the streets, lead stable and productive lives and raise their children in a healthy environment. Councilor Watts points out that “the money is not spent on this end but on the other end which is unfortunate. If we don’t spend the money on prevention we will have generations of children that will grow up making wrong choices.” Ms. Watts stresses the need to educate parents as there is an attitude that all kids will try drugs and as the parents did it in the 60s or 70s, it is not that big of a deal. However, first of all, there is no need for kids to do drugs. The parents’ attitudes and involvement in their children’s lives have a great impact. Parents need to learn how to openly and honestly discuss this issue and understand the danger of these drugs. The variety of available drugs is amazing and the content of many of these drugs is deadly. Marijuana today is a lot more potent and dangerous that the type that was used 30 years ago. The federal government has decided that the best way to take hold of the drug problem is for the government to package and sell all the illegal drugs in a controlled environment such as alcohol. The Canadian government believes that people will use drugs anyway and it would be best for the government to be in control of the sale of the drugs. The idea is that the crime element of the drug scene could then be eliminated. There will not be a focus on education, prevention, and rehabilitation but instead on safe injection sites, handing out drugs and legalizing and selling all drugs on a controlled market. In general, Surrey stands alone in its approach to the drug problem. The majority of cities and towns in British Columbia follow in the footsteps of Vancouver which is focusing on harm reduction rather than education, prevention, and rehabilitation. Action: The taxpayers’ money is at work again. Ask your city councilors what their views are on this issue and urge them to focus on education, prevention and rehabilitation rather than on harm reduction (which includes safe injection site and handing out drugs). Our towns and cities should encourage the provincial government to put money into the prevention and rehabilitation side of the issue and not into harm reduction. Write our health minister, premier, and your MLA urging them that your tax money be used for prevention programs and rehabilitation centres rather than harm reduction. Hon. Colin Hansen Minister of Health PO Box 9050 Station Prov. Government Victoria, BC V8W 9E2 email address: hlth.health@gems1.gov.bc.ca Hon. Gordon Campbell Premier of BC PO Box 9041 Station Prov. Government Victoria, BC V8W 8E1 email address: premier@gov.bc.ca Your local MLA If you are interested in drug information, go to: www.aegd.ch, a Swiss organization that has a vast amount of information available on its website.
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A Tale of Two Cities