SAFE-INHALATION SCHEME FOR CRACK USERS HAS MAJOR FLAWS

The idea of a government-sponsored room where drug users can inhale crack
cocaine without fear of arrest may appear, at least on the surface, to be a
progressive and compassionate approach to dealing with hardcore addiction.

But it is tackling one of B.C.'s most pernicious drug problems in a
backward, or at least a back-to-front, way.

Crack cocaine, which can produce paranoid and violent behaviour among its
users, is illegal for a reason. Its effects are far more intense than those
of ordinary cocaine. Some users report that they've been addicted since the
first time they tried it.

It is a scourge on society.

And it makes much more sense for society to do everything in its power to
prevent people from trying the drug in the first place -- than in
attempting to feed the addiction once it's taken hold.

Drug activists claim a "safe inhalation site" would improve the health of
those in the Downtown Eastside, and make its troubled streets safer. They
say it might even save the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority money, since
it could reduce the spread of diseases such as Hepatitis C.

"We would be able to connect and get some people into treatment," says
health authority spokeswoman Viviana Zanocco.

The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users estimates there are 4,700 drug
users in the Downtown Eastside, and that between 100 and 400 of them smoke
crack cocaine at any given time.

VANDU spokeswoman Ann Livingston says bringing them inside from the back
alleys would boost their self-esteem.

"It would let them know that someone cares," Livingston told The Province.

But wouldn't such a publicly-funded crack-smoking site simply attract more
addicts to drug-infested downtown Vancouver?

Also, how many more young people might be tempted to try the drug for the
first time, if they could be assured of a comfortable room, free from
prosecution?

To legalize a so-called safe-inhalation site for crack users, Health Canada
would have to grant an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances
Act, as it did last year for the safe-injection site for heroin users on
East Hastings Street.

We think Health Canada should spend far more effort finding ways to get
people off dangerous drugs like crack -- and far less on ways of keeping
them addicted to them.

What do you think? Leave a brief comment, name and town at: 604-605-2029,
fax: 604-605-2099 or e-mail: provletters@png.canwest.com