DRUG-TREATMENT, CRIME-PREVENTION PROGRAM EXTENDED

Vancouver's drug treatment and crime prevention program received a
three-year extension at a cost of almost $1 million Tuesday after the
program's co-ordinator said the city is at a crucial point in dealing with
the problem.

"The key now is implementation," Donald MacPherson told council, which
voted unanimously to extend the program. "We've really become a
leading-edge city in Canada. We get a lot of calls from across the country."

He said the city's four-pillar strategy to deal with drug abuse --
prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement -- will now move into
a critical stage with the first supervised injection sites being
established as part of the federal government's trial programs in treating
addiction.

However, he said, there is a need for a regional strategy to deal with drug
abuse.

"I'm concerned with what Surrey is doing," he said of that municipality's
decision to make it tougher for drug treatment centres to operate. "They're
creating a community with very few services."

Mayor Larry Campbell also blasted Surrey.

"We're now seeing the municipality of Surrey put a $10,000 licence fee on
methadone clinics," he said. "The rest of us are trying to solve the
problem and Surrey is not."

Campbell also said the provincial government needs to do more in providing
health support for drug-treatment programs and that the federal government
should hurry with a national drug strategy.

He said he is expecting financial aid soon from Ottawa and plans to go
there in April for talks on the drug issue.

Campbell also praised former mayor Philip Owen for his work in starting the
four pillars program, and said he wants Owen to help him implement it.

"I want Philip Owen to work with me on this," he said. "He's had four
months off now, that's plenty of time for rest. "I want him to come with me
to Ottawa at the end of April."