HARD TO CRACK ADDICTION

Ottawa must build its own drug policy. Just as wise people listen
graciously to advice, Ottawa can learn from other cities, including
Vancouver. But as with people, so with cities: Maturity means making
your own decisions.

Insp. John McKay, a Vancouver police officer, knows the notorious
Downtown Eastside too well. He recently warned Ottawa that the
capital could also become a haven for drug use if it relies too much
on harm reduction and forgets enforcement, treatment and prevention.

He's right that those other approaches are necessary, although his
statement that "harm reduction for drug addicts is harm production
for everyone else" is unfounded. It should be noted that Insp. McKay
is speaking for himself, not for Vancouver. In Vancouver as in
Ottawa, there is often tension between the police and the city authorities.

In November, the Canadian Medical Association Journal published a
report about Vancouver's safe-injection site, showing that the
research suggests crime rates and dealing did not increase in the
area after the facility opened and that public drug use and
discarding of needles decreased.

Harm reduction makes sense for public health. Clean pipes and needle
exchanges mean less HIV and hepatitis. That makes Ottawa safer and
makes addiction less of a drain on city resources.

That's a big-picture analysis. The police see things from the ground.
Whether an addict is HIV-positive or not, he can still cause trouble.
That's why police are less concerned with harm reduction than with enforcement.

Ottawa shouldn't dismiss the concerns of police officers. On its own,
harm reduction can't solve the original problem of addiction; if we
expect clean crack pipes to eliminate crack addiction, we'll be
disappointed. Nonetheless, harm reduction can reduce physical impacts
to users and society and gives addicts enough time and strength to
heal themselves.

Ottawa needs more treatment facilities and programs that treat the
whole person, including mental and physical illness. It needs to
respond quickly to new trends in drug abuse.

Enforcement doesn't usually do much good for the addict. It does,
however, protect the community from immediate harm. It's obvious that
clean pipes won't get a nuisance-causing addict to move away from a
storefront, or catch an addict who's stealing to get money for his
habit, or prevent dealers from hanging around social-service agencies
and schoolyards. That's where enforcement comes in.

Ottawans who have visited Vancouver's Downtown Eastside may have been
struck by the sight of users who wander the streets like zombies. Our
fear tempts us to take resources away from harm reduction and send
police to sweep the problem away. But harm reduction didn't create
the zombies. The causes of the problem are not that simple. Neither
are the solutions.