REGIONAL APPROACH SOUGHT FOR DRUG-ABUSE PROBLEMS

Take Services To Suburban Addicts, Politicians Say

Substance-abuse problems should be tackled in every Lower Mainland
community instead of relegated to Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, a group
that represents the region's municipalities said Thursday.

"For too long, the communities in the Lower Mainland have let Vancouver
deal with their problems," said North Vancouver city Councillor Bob
Fearnley, chair of the drug strategy committee of the Lower Mainland
Municipal Association.

"Help these people where they still have connections -- badly damaged, but
they've still got family and friends," he said in an interview.

"That's a better way of doing it, before you lose people in the Downtown
Eastside."

He was commenting after the association, which represents 34
municipalities, issued a report calling for a regional plan to tackle
substance abuse, so actions in one community don't displace drug-related
problems to another community.

The report's 40 proposals include a recommendation for more needle-exchange
programs, which it said are needed in every part of the Lower Mainland to
combat hepatitis and HIV epidemics.

The report criticizes unnamed municipalities, saying only a small
proportion of injection drug users in the Lower Mainland have access to a
needle exchange program.

"The failure of local authorities to establish and support the most basic
harm reduction programs has exposed communities of the Lower Mainland to a
greater risk of contracting fatal and other communicable diseases," it says.

"For instance, there are still many parts of the region where a needle
exchange program is not yet available. Where a program exists, it is often
limited in terms of its hours of operation, its general accessibility, or
its accessibility to certain groups."

Vivienne Chin, one of the consultants who did research work for the
municipal association, said the consultants searched from Hope to Whistler
and found needle-exchange programs in just four cities: Vancouver, Surrey,
New Westminster and Chilliwack.

Chin said the "Not-In-My-Backyard-Syndrome" was the reason cited by many of
the 500 people interviewed. Citizens fear crime rates will climb if a
needle-exchange centre opens in their neighbourhood, but she said studies
don't substantiate those fears.

Sam Mohan, who works at the needle-exchange program in Chilliwack, said
RCMP statistics show a drop in drug-related crimes such as burglaries, auto
theft, and shoplifting since Fraser Valley Connection Services opened in 1993.

Many citizens don't understand that drug counselling and other programs
benefit their community, she said.

"Fear is usually their first reaction," she said. "They don't want [drug
addicts] coming to their community, but they're already there."

The report doesn't spell out how much money any of its recommendations
would cost.

But it calls on municipalities, health authorities and the B.C. government
to work together on things like drug education, early intervention and
harm-reduction programs.

Fearnley said he's hopeful that money will be found for more services, and
said the cost of not doing anything will be greater if someone has a
substance abuse problem and ends up in hospital or prison with HIV.

In general, the report endorses the broad approach to drug problems
embraced several years ago by the city of Vancouver and senior governments,
a so-called "four pillar approach" that includes education, treatment, harm
reduction and enforcement initiatives.

It says the Downtown Eastside isn't the only place that needs more drug and
alcohol services.

"Every part of the region is experiencing a severe lack of alcohol and drug
treatment services," the report states.

"The situation also appears to be deteriorating. The lack of services for
injection drug users outside of Vancouver is particularly alarming.
Programs designed for high-risk female, youth, aboriginal, mentally ill and
homeless injection drug users tend to be clustered in downtown Vancouver
and are insufficient to meet the needs of the region as a whole."