VPD STRADDLING FENCE ON MAYOR'S DRUG PLAN

The Vancouver Police Department is staying out of the public debate
surrounding Mayor Sam Sullivan's controversial treatment plan to give
prescription medication to drug addicts.

Deputy chief Doug LePard said the mandate of police is to provide
safety for the public and not to express views on what the department
considers a medical issue. LePard said he's also aware of the politics
connected to such a proposal.

"We're not here to serve a political agenda," LePard told the Courier.
"We're here to serve the public interest as it relates to public
safety. So we're not getting into the political discussion about it or
the political rhetoric."

Sullivan's plan calls for doctors to prescribe legal drugs to people
with long-time addictions, most of whom are street prostitutes and
chronic offenders.

Health Canada must approve the plan and Sullivan has created a
non-profit society called Inner Change to speed up that approval. As
reported in the Courier last month, the society includes a clinical
advisory committee composed of the province's medical health officer,
Dr. Perry Kendall, Dr. David Marsh of Vancouver Coastal Health and Dr.
John Blatherwick, the city's medical health officer.

Former Conservative MP John Reynolds, a close ally of Prime Minister
Stephen Harper, and Dr. Don Rix of MDS Metro Laboratory Services, are
co-chairs of the society. Lois Johnson, a Tory organizer, is the
society's executive director.

The VPD drug policy coordinator, Insp. Scott Thompson, has met with
some of the society's members, LePard said. But the police department
has yet to see a detailed proposal, he added.

If the proposal is approved by Health Canada, LePard said the
department would not "stand in the way" of a legal initiative. He
noted the department provided a letter of support for the opening of
the supervised injection site on East Hastings.

"What we've seen is a concept where there's a wide divergence of
opinions and we think that debate needs to occur between the medical
experts and resolve those issues of concern," he said.

How does the VPD's neutral position affect Sullivan's plan? The mayor
noted the project is included in his "Project Civil City" plan to
reduce homelessness, the open drug market and panhandling.

Speaking at the end of Wednesday's police board meeting, Sullivan
pointed out the board gave unanimous approval to Project Civil City.
But does that mean the police actually approved a drug treatment plan
for which they haven't seen the full details?

"By endorsing Civil City, it's essentially endorsing working
positively with the elements of Civil City, which includes among many
things innovative drug treatment approaches," Sullivan said.