CAST A GOOD DEAL

Every once in a while, an idea so innovative and so hopeful arrives
into the public square for discussion, that one cannot help but be
grateful that sometimes we can put political differences aside to
focus on making lives better.

This week, Mayor Sam Sullivan, along with Dr. Don Rix, John Reynolds,
David Holtzman and Joy MacPhail announced the creation of the Chronic
Addiction Substitution Treatment program.

In the simplest of terms, this program will assist hardened drug
addicts by providing paid-for legal prescription drugs so that they
can leave the expensive, life-destroying illegal drugs like crack and
crystal meth behind.

Instead of hiding in dark alleys to shoot up and then breaking into
cars or selling their bodies to get money to buy more, addicts will
be assigned to a physician who will assess the correct legal drug for
their needs and begin the process of peering into the layers - mental
health or otherwise - that caused the drug abuse in the first place.

The addicts in the trial program - estimated around 700 - will be
assigned to a doctor wherever they wish. This way they can escape the
hell-hole of the Downtown Eastside and begin to re-establish their
lives, without the stigma of a crack addiction and potentially
unbearable pressure from a former dealer or pimp.

Social workers in the worst neighbourhoods in Canada will tell you
that addiction is complicated and each addict has a different set of
circumstances that led him or her into the deceptively comforting
arms of drugs. However, it is almost impossible to treat the
underlying issues without first addressing the drug abuse which leads
to shortened lives, criminal records, disease, damaged children and
hopelessness.

It is no secret that political leader after political leader has
struggled with the spiralling illegal drug issue, particularly in the
Downtown Eastside. It is one of the most visible failures of our city.

Each solution in the past addressed goals like less crime or less
disease or less street prostitution.

These were all admirable, but the real goal should have been helping
people get off drugs. Period.

If we know of a drug that we know will help a cancer sufferer live a
better life we don't hesitate to prescribe it. We don't stigmatize
that person with cancer - in fact, as a society, we wrap our arms
tightly about him and support him in any way we can.

These are early days for this new program. It will take perseverance
and it will take courage, especially as there are bound to be failures.

But it is so important we not allow our fellow man lie in filth and
despair just because we are afraid.