BUSINESS SEES BENEFIT IN MAYOR'S DRUG PLAN

After 30 years of watching the repeated failure of efforts to combat
hard drug addiction and the crimes that accompany it, a former
Vancouver police officer believes the mayor's proposed drug
substitution treatment program is worth trying.

"If you're getting a legal drug and you're indifferent between a
legal drug and the illegal drug, then you don't need to do crime to
use the drug," said Dave Jones, a former Vancouver police officer and
director of crime prevention services for the Downtown Vancouver
Business Improvement Association (DVBIA). "That's attractive from the
businesses perspective in that that ought to reduce the types of
addict crimes that are typical in the downtown area, essentially low
order thefts and things of that nature."

The DVBIA dispatched a press release Monday supporting the substitute
treatment concept, in which doctors would prescribe legal drugs to
drug addicts. Supporters of the proposal hope that with increased
stability and medical supervision users will progress into drug treatment.

According to the release, 90 per cent of 566 people arrested by DVBIA
loss prevention officers for theft and various disturbances from
October 2005 to November 2006 indicated they use street drugs such as
crack, heroin and methamphetamine.

Crack cocaine abuse is most rampant, so the key will be to find a
substitute drug that's acceptable to those who use it, Jones said.
Heroin and crystal meth addiction affects fewer users, although he
said many addicts use all three.

Providing addicts with medically approved drugs makes sense, he
added, noting the program should appeal to those worried about
relatives addicted to drugs.

"If there was a medical model that would give that family member a
prescription substitute that would assist in stabilizing their life,
keep them from crime and open the door, perhaps, for treatment, I'd
be in there and I don't think there's a parent in the world that
wouldn't be there."

The money saved in reducing property crime would not be difficult to
tally, Jones said, noting the association spends $1 million a year on
security and its "ambassador" program.

"The last guy I arrested for theft from auto had just broken into
four vehicles. He did $2,000 worth of damage to those vehicles and he
got $4.12. Based on that, he would have to break into another four
cars to make the eight bucks to get the rock. So, do the math," he said.

Jones sees the drug substitution program working in tandem with
community courts that will steer addicts into drug treatment and
maintenance programs, housing and mental health services.

"What you're saying is, we're giving you a choice," he said. "You can
get on a prescription drug treatment model as a replacement drug or
you can go to jail, but you're not going back on the street the way you are."

The consultant working with the mayor expects to forward a proposal
seeking an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
this month. Project organizers hope to include up to 800 users.