POLICE VIOLENCE NO SOLUTION TO DRUG-USE WOES

Persecution Will Lead to More Harm, Not Less

"Overdose death spurred dance club raid." Sometimes the headlines
tell the truth -- but not the whole truth.

Early one cold Sunday morning in March, 89 officers from over a dozen
police agencies stormed into the Comfort Zone, an after-hours club at
the corner of College and Spadina streets in Toronto.

Over 100 patrons were searched -- and some allege that
assault-rifle-toting officers used excessive, violent force.
Ultimately, 33 people were arrested, and police say they seized
$30,000 worth of drugs and $35,000 in cash.

In online discussions, those present claim the police disabled the
bar's security cameras so they could act with impunity, and took
every last penny they could find, right down to the coat-check
person's tip jar. Patrons who were not arrested subsequently told
news media they were thrown to the ground, punched, kicked, stomped
in the head and bloodied.

Why did this happen? Police allege that the bar was responsible for a
drug-overdose death. Twenty-six-old Hamiltonian Andrew Fazio died in
his home on January 27 after using the party drug GHB. "This young
man died as a result of an overdose of illegal drugs which were
purchased and consumed at the Comfort Zone," Detective Sergeant Ed
Roseto told reporters at a Metro Police press conference the day
after the raid.

"We are working [...] to close this place down," said Roseto, who
described the bar as "pitch black inside," and claimed there were
tables of drugs laid out openly in the bar for sale. He likened it a
"flea market."

The deceased man's sister tearfully told reporters that her brother
had only been introduced to GHB in January, and by the end of that
month he had died. "I'm very happy that a place like this has been
closed down, so now another family will not feel this way," she said.

On the surface, this may sound pretty straightforward. People are
dying and police have identified the place where fatal drugs are
being bought and sold. It only makes sense to shut it down. Or does it?

Any death related to the use of any substance -- legal or illicit --
is a terrible tragedy. And it's pretty clear that if people engage in
activities that break the law, they expose themselves to the risk of
police persecution.

But there may be little relationship between this man's death and the
Comfort Zone. A friend of Fazio told media the man had been using GHB
all weekend long at multiple venues, casting doubt on the police
rationale for the raid. And numerous online commentators have
asserted that Fazio was hardly the naA-f portrayed in the press
conferences but an "avid clubber" and known GHB dealer himself.

The police raid, part of a larger operation with the dubious moniker
of Operation White Rabbit, took place within a larger context. The
federal Tories have adopted a position that evokes the US
government's failed "War on Drugs," insisting that drug use is a
criminal issue rather than a health matter, despite mountains of
evidence to the contrary documented in respected sources ranging from
The Lancet to Foreign Policy.

A non-licensed venue, the Comfort Zone is well-known in the Toronto
club scene for its positive vibe and as a home for distinctive house
music. Many see it as a non-violent alternative to the
alcohol-fuelled, testosterone-driven atmosphere of the city's
Entertainment District -- which is full of bars where an arguably far
greater amount of drug use and sales transpires anyway.

The Comfort Zone shows few signs of capitulating to police pressure.
The following Sunday, the bar was packed despite the fact police made
a return visit and placed two more people under arrest. There were no
flea-market-style drug tables in sight, just people enjoying the
music like usual. Later that night, a couple police cars were
stationed outside the bar -- perhaps to frighten people away.

Persecuting people who use drugs and shutting down places where they
socialize is likely to lead to more untreated overdoses and
fatalities, not less. Targeting the Comfort Zone will have little
positive impact on drug-related harm. The police have manipulated a
family's grief and sorrow for ideological ends. That's a tragedy too.