WORSENING HARD-DRUG WOES MUST BE TACKLED EFFECTIVELY

The city of Vancouver's four-pillar strategy -- prevention, treatment, harm
reduction and enforcement -- to tackle the rampant use of hard drugs in the
Downtown Eastside and the associated crime is something this newspaper
wholeheartedly supports.

As to which of the four pillars should be emphasized at any given time is,
of course, entirely dependent on the changing conditions on the ground.
Those conditions, if Vancouver police Const. Gerry Wickstead's recent
report is anything to go by, have taken a turn for the worse.

Vancouver Sun columnist Barbara Yaffe, in a three-part series last week,
used the information provided by Const. Wickstead to explain that the drug
and crime problem in the Downtown Eastside is getting worse and our lax
justice system is contributing to it.

So those federal, provincial and municipal officials implementing the
strategy must show some flexibility and adopt the right mix of the four
pillars if they are to be effective. Specifically, that means ensuring that
drug traffickers get lengthy sentences and/or treatment and counselling,
not the slap on the wrist they tend to get now.

As well, harm-reduction and treatment programs must take into account the
changing habits of drug addicts.

Const. Wickstead, a cop on the beat for 16 years -- eight on the Downtown
Eastside -- notes that the number of people charged in British Columbia for
trafficking in heroin and cocaine has increased from 1,580 in 1995 to 2,240
in 2000. The number of people using needles on a daily basis over the same
period skyrocketed from 5,000 to 9,500. Clearly, the drug problem is worsening.

As significantly, Const. Wickstead says, despite the attention paid to
heroin addiction, the drug of choice for a majority of the addicts in the
Downtown Eastside today is cocaine. So treatment and harm-reduction
programs can't simply focus on heroin if they are to be effective.

And, contrary to popular opinion, Const. Wickstead points to data
suggesting that 82 per cent of the drug-related charges were for
trafficking. Only 17 per cent were for possession. In fact, the number of
criminal charges against traffickers almost doubled to 6,000 in 2000 from
3,200 in 1993.

The increase in the number of charges indicates that enforcement has been
stepped up. That should be good news. Alas, the provincial courts aren't
playing along. When traffickers are convicted, jail sentences are just 50
to 60 days. These light sentences don't act as much of a deterrent.

Not surprisingly, the rate of recidivism is high. Const. Wickstead says
that 70 major criminal offenders, over the past two decades, have each
averaged 77 charges and and 52 convictions. And each one of them has
breached the terms of their parole more than five times. This
revolving-door policy adopted by the courts for these 70 habitual criminals
cost taxpayers $10 million -- and we have nothing to show for it.

Given the way our justice system treats drug traffickers, many of them
migrate here. With an increase in the number of suppliers, drug prices tend
to competitive. Drugs are, in fact, cheaper in Vancouver than elsewhere in
the country and are easy to obtain. More drug use and more crime is the
natural outcome.

Const. Wickstead, in sharing this important information with the media,
took the risk of incurring the wrath of his superiors. He started his
interviews with Ms. Yaffe by saying "I'm sure I will get into trouble for
releasing this to the media."

Instead of being penalized for his actions, we think Const. Wickstead
should be lauded for exposing the fact that the drug scene and criminal
activity in the Downtown Eastside continues to be out of control and no
nearer to being tackled than it was a year ago.

Solving it, as we all know, requires an acknowledgment not only of the
existence of the problem but also its scale. That's precisely what Const.
Wickstead has done.

Now it's up to officials from all levels of government take the necessary
measures to stop the Downtown Eastside from getting worse than it already is.