BETTER TO PROVIDE EASY ACCESS TO TREATMENT THAN TO DRUGS

Drug addicts and dealers have had free reign in Vancouver's Downtown
Eastside for too long. Drug deals occur near the police department's
headquarters and in open view of the public. The area is the epitome of
Skid Road; a criminal, medical, social mess.

So city police took steps to reclaim the area by launching a three-month
trial of "enhanced enforcement" that triples the number of officers in the
area. Police say they took steps because there has been much talk, but
little done to install the four-pillar plan (enforcement, treatment, harm
reduction and prevention). In the midst of inaction, the drug market was
growing, as was embarrassment over the city's reputation.

Believe it or not, this 'crackdown' on crime (enforcing the law) is
considered controversial by some. City council unanimously refused to
provide the VPD $2.3 million to extend the program. One advocate claimed
the added police presence was "killing"people (rather than the drugs);
others said it will force users into 'unsafe' injection practices, hiding
and crime.

The non-users seem to welcome the added police presence. It's only
drug-users and their radical advocates who think law enforcement, not
drugs, are at the root of the problem. They say officers are throwing
'sick' users in jail and using legal tools to deal with a medical problem.
In truth, the legal battle against drugs hasn't even begun.

Const. Gerry Wickstead compiled statistics that show only four per cent of
drug possession charges in B.C. in 2000 resulted in a jail term. A mere one
per cent of trafficking charges resulted in a prison sentence. Of roughly
15,000 injection users in B.C., only 5.5 per cent have been charged with
possession. The average sentence for possession in Canada is 15 days;
trafficking, 90 days.

Contrast that to Washington state, where a first time trafficker faces 21
to 27 months in jail. That's enforcement. Little wonder that a drug dealer
testifying at a recent trial said B.C.'s drug laws only encouraged trafficking.

It's clear the VPD sees the drug problem as a major crime issue and is
committed to increased enforcement. That much is positive. But it won't
make any difference if the judicial system refuses to penalize drug-related
offences. Lenience not only creates the perception that enforcement is a
"joke," it keeps the drug user in squalor and despair.

Not only must sentencing be tougher -- it must also be smarter, more
meaningful. Users and dealers should be given a choice between jail or
treatment; that means money for detox and treatment centres, counselling,
and follow-up programs.

Al Arsenault of The Odd Squad, Vancouver officers dedicated to drug
prevention, says, "We have to stop making addicts lives so comfortable as
to take away any impetus for them to change, but we also have to give them
somewhere positive to go."

We give away millions of needles yearly, are planning injection sites, the
decriminalization of marijuana and perhaps even prescribing heroin and
cocaine to addicts. Instead of providing easy access to drugs, why not try
enforcement, meaningful sentencing that provides incentives to seek
treatment, and access to treatment programs?

Enhanced enforcement isn't a fix. It's a start towards controlling drugs
and reclaiming the eastside. Hopefully, it will hasten the provision of
effective treatment and prevention programs.