YES, IT'S YOUR PROBLEM

Canada should begin a nation-wide study on the benefits of creating
safe injection sites for intravenous drug addicts.

That's the suggestion of the head of the RCMP's Drug Enforcement
Program, Chief Supt. Robert Lessor.

I say, make it a short study and get on with it.

The human circus that is the Downtown Eastside (and increasingly,
Surrey, where addicts can be found doped up in alleys and siphoning
puddle water into their syringes for the next hit) is an embarrassment
to this province. At least as bad a blemish as the clear-cutting of
the "Great Bear Rain Forest," which sparked a global shame campaign by
Greenpeace and a historic agreement between the government,
environmentalists and forestry companies.

It's too bad addicts don't have a radical group behind them, papering
the world's billboards with messages that B.C. has turned its back on
one of the most appalling health crises in the country.

But spirit bears don't roam the filthy streets near Main and Hastings,
just the ghosts of thousands of lives ruined by drugs and the lack of
municipal, provincial and federal aid to combat the problem.

The sheer human suffering that plays out day and night alongside the
tourist attractions, shops and eateries hasn't been enough to garner
political support for aggressive action.

And the fact that intravenous drug users are now B.C.'s most likely
demographic to contract HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is old news
that has lost its shock value.

So how about a hepatitis C epidemic?

Health officials warn that hep C, which causes chronic liver disease
and can be fatal, is rampant among needle users. This is cause for
alarm among the general population, because unless we ship all addicts
to an island somewhere (a suggestion popular with some, I'm sure),
we're all at risk.

Hep C is a hardier virus than HIV, and therefore, more easily spread.
And because it is incurable in most cases, the cost of caring for
infected individuals will fall on the health care system at large.

However, even this news is unlikely to hit home. Judging by the money
and manpower invested in policing marijuana grow-ops, we care more
about property than people.

As one component in a larger drug strategy, safe injection sites, with
clean needles and health professionals on hand, would keep diseases in
check, and as a bonus, offer addicts the opportunity for help.

Cities such as Frankfurt, Zurich and Sydney have opened safe injection
sites. But in North America, where discussion of subjects like
prostitution or addiction cause red-faced denial or self-righteous
condemnation, such sites would mean we're condoning drug use, right?

Much better to allow the unsafe injection sites - on busy street
corners, alongside playgrounds and in residential neighbourhoods - to
continue, so we can look down our noses in derision and tsk-tsk.

Those caught in the grip of addiction don't need another study. They
need a spirit bear, but in lieu of that, some real solutions - safe
injection sites among them - will do.