SULLIVAN DRUG STANCE 'SIMPLISTIC'

LARRY CAMPBELL BLASTS MAYOR FOR HIS SUPPORT OF GIVING DRUGS TO ADDICTS

B.C. senator and former Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell came out
swinging Friday at current mayor Sam Sullivan's support for giving
drugs to addicts, calling it a "simplistic" solution to the city's
drug problems.

"The idea that all you need to do is give drugs [to people] and that
takes care of the problem doesn't make any sense to me," said
Campbell. "It's very simplistic."

And Campbell said he was troubled by Sullivan's comments that the
city should put more of its energy into harm reduction as opposed to
the other three pillars of the city's four-pillars drug strategy
(enforcement, treatment and prevention).

"His idea that one pillar is tremendously more important than the
others flies in the face of everything we've learned," Campbell said.

In an interview with The Vancouver Sun published Friday, Sullivan
said he supported the idea of a drug-maintenance program as a way of
reducing crime and social disorder -- adding he was particularly
interested in giving help to women who become prostitutes to support
their drug habits.

While stressing that no project was currently under way, and that the
city itself would not be involved in setting one up, Sullivan
confirmed an anonymous donor had come forward with $500,000 to help fund one.

Campbell said he supports drug maintenance programs, but only for
those addicts who can't be treated through more traditional treatment programs.

And he said more money is needed for prevention and treatment -- so
those who want to get off drugs aren't turned away.

In an interview Friday, Sullivan said he supports more prevention and
treatment, "but I think we have to be honest with ourselves that that
is not going to solve the problem."

Sullivan refused to elaborate Friday on how a drug maintenance
program would work -- and what types of addicts it should serve --
saying that should be left up to experts.

Campbell's criticisms of Sullivan were echoed by several councillors
from Vision Vancouver, the main opposition to Sullivan's Non-Partisan
Association.

Coun. Tim Stevenson called Sullivan's views "extreme" and Raymond
Louie said drug maintenance should be a "last resort" after other
forms of treatment have failed.

But Suzanne Anton of the NPA and David Cadman, the lone councillor
for the Coalition of Progressive Electors, both said they support the mayor.

"As a society that is suffering as a result of drug use ... we have
to look for more creative solutions," said Cadman.

Sullivan's proposal also met with support from some of the
organizations that work with drug addicts and prostitutes.

Kate Gibson, executive director of the WISH Drop-In Centre for sex
workers in the Downtown Eastside, said the mayor sat down with
several of the centre's clients about six weeks ago for about an hour.

"It was a very good conversation. It was very open, very frank," she
said. "It's great that he's consulting people who are directly
affected and I think he needs to be applauded for that."

Gibson said a drug maintenance program would help her centre's
clients, by reducing the risk of their taking tainted drugs and
reducing their interaction with predatory drug dealers.

But she said getting women out of the sex trade requires more than free drugs.

"If they don't have housing and they don't have financial stability,
they're still going to have to work in the sex trade," she said.

Ann Livingston, executive program director of the Vancouver Area
Network of Drug Users, said she hopes Sullivan can "create the
political will" for a drug maintenance program.

A small number of heroin addicts in Vancouver and Montreal are
already being prescribed heroin as part of the North American Opiate
Medication Initiative (NAOMI), a scientific study to compare heroin
treatment to methadone.

Dr. Martin Schechter, the lead investigator of the study, said
prescription heroin programs in Switzerland, the Netherlands and
Germany have already shown encouraging results-- improving the health
of addicts and reducing their involvement in criminal activity to
support their habit.

No data is available from the NAOMI study yet, but Schechter said
researchers have noticed a difference in its subjects.

"People come in and you can see them gaining weight," he said. "They
tell us they're no longer doing breaking-and-entering or street
prostitution. Anecdotally, it seems to be working. But we won't know
for a while."

Addicts are only eligible to enroll in NAOMI if they are long-time
addicts who have already failed at methadone treatment.

Schechter said most drug maintenance programs in Europe have similar
restrictions.

Vancouver Coastal Health Authority spokeswoman Viviana Zanocco said
she's not aware of any current plans for the authority to setup a
full-time prescription heroin program in the city.

Creating a permanent prescription heroin program in Vancouver would
first require the approval of the federal minister of health to
exempt it from drug-trafficking laws.