DRUG ABUSE A HEALTH ISSUE, SAYS LOWE

Users, Police, Politicians Say Curbing Abuse Needs A Many-Pronged Approach

It's time to come to grips with the fact that we're a substance-using
culture, and stop marginalizing those using illegal drugs, says
Connie Carter, a spokeswoman for the Voices of Substance, a Victoria
conference.

About 170 people including drug and alcohol users, police, social
workers, the medical community and politicians gathered Friday to
look at addictions from almost every possible angle.

Substance abuse is pervasive and society has to understand kicking
addictions can take several attempts, Carter said.

It takes an average of 10 tries for most people to quit cigarettes
and up to as many times for alcohol, said Carter.

"Unfortunately the burden of marginalization falls on folks who are
dependent on illicit substances and that's not really fair because
we're all dealing in some way with living in a substance-using
culture -- whether it's stopping at the bar on the way home from work
or drinking and driving."

There's an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 injection drug users in the capital region.

Long-time heroin addict Andy Snitzer spent the better part of 30
years behind bars because of crimes such as bank robbery that he
committed for funds to stay high.

Now on parole and in a methadone program, he said it's for the good
of society that treatment programs, up to and including, safe
injection sites and medical prescriptions of heroin are available.

"I did crime to support a habit but I had no control over my
addiction. I learned to be a criminal because I went to prison. I was
an addict before that and I learned to be a criminal so I could
support that . . . whereas if heroin was legalized, or I was allowed
to get it from a doctor, I wouldn't have stole. There would have been
no reason to be a thief."

Mayor Alan Lowe said authorities are trying to treat addiction as
more of a health issue than an enforcement issue. "We're trying to
help those that have addictions. It's not that they want to be there.
They have an illness and I think we have actually started to come to
grips with that."

And while there's no silver bullet, dialogues such as Friday's are
useful in putting together the pieces, he said.

"Five years ago I wouldn't have known 25 per cent of the information
that I know today and that's because we've talked to the user
population; we've researched what other cities are doing and through
this process today and into the future we hope to be continually
working with the user groups as well as the social service providers
so that we can make a difference."

In a perfect world, Lowe said, there would be treatment on demand.

"Unfortunately we don't have the resources or the capacity here in
the city to allow for that, he said, adding that once a person goes
through detox, there isn't a continuum of care.