OTTAWA REPORT GOOD START, SAYS OWEN

Philip Owen liked what he heard yesterday from federal politicians trying
to solve Canada's $5-billion-a-year illicit-drug problem.

A parliamentary committee said heroin addicts in major cities should have
safe-injection sites and needle-exchange programs.

It was one of 39 recommendations arrived at after 18 months of study in
North America, Europe, and Australia.

Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto are the likely sites for pilot programs.

Owen, the former Vancouver mayor who led the fight against the drug culture
in the Downtown Eastside, said: "I think the report is very good, very
comprehensive."

He said safe sites will help addicts build a life after drugs.

"A safe injection site allows you [as a society] to deal with the
individual as a point of entry into rehabilitation and recovery," he said.
"Now you can't do that."

Others were not supportive.

Canadian Alliance MP Randy White (Langley-Abbotsford), vice-chairman of the
panel, claimed harm-reduction measures such as safe-injection sites and
needle exchanges "will maintain a chemical dependency to dangerous and
illicit drugs over a much longer period of time."

David Griffin, executive director of the Canadian Police Association, said:
"We're sliding down a slippery slope."

But Liberal MP Paddy Torsney, head of the committee, said open drug use in
parks and alleys is worse than safe-injection sites.