LEGALIZATION OF HARD DRUGS NOT THE ANSWER

Senator Ed Lawson, a member of the special Senate committee reviewing
Canada's anti-drug laws, suggested last week that the government consider
selling heroin and cocaine at liquor stores.

"I'd be willing to give it a try," he was quoted as saying.

The remark shows an ignorance of, and attitude toward, drug use that
demonstrates why we have some of the problems we have. Comments such as Mr.
Lawson's are detrimental to the purpose of the committee, and undermine the
good work and intentions of those truly seeking a solution to an
out-of-control problem in our city and country.

Decriminalization of marijuana may be an option worthy of consideration to
some, an inevitability to others. But to suggest that heroin and cocaine
might also be drugs worth legalizing is asinine. They are completely
different drugs with completely different problems associated with their use.

Rob McLaren, a detective with the Vancouver police drug squad, has been on
the job for 27 years and he's seen a lot of changes in the local drug
scene. Years ago heroin was the evil drug and cocaine was a nightclub drug,
not readily available. In the early '80s heroin was out, Talwin and Ritalin
were in.

Things changed again in the mid-'80s as cocaine became more available and
using it became socially accepted in some circles. In the late '80s and
early '90s, users figured out that they could inject coke for a better high
and there was an influx of Asian heroin to the city that was cheap and easy
to get. Then came crack, designer drugs, acid resurfaced -- well you get
the picture.

Cops will tell you that they would rather deal with a heroin junkie than
someone addicted to cocaine. There is some predictability to heroin users,
none to cocaine addicts.

Even the bad guys know it. A senior officer of the VPD, who spent a number
of years on the drug squad, said of cocaine use, "Most traffickers at the
mid-level and above don't use the product. Organized crime groups, like the
[Hells] Angels, tell their people 'sell it, but don't use it -- it'll mess
you up.' "

Detective McLaren was in Frankfurt, Germany, last year to look at their
safe-injection-site program to see how a similar program might work here.
He was admittedly skeptical about the concept and somewhat surprised at its
apparent success. "It's a very pragmatic approach to the problem," he says.

Some sites are simple rooms, while others consume entire buildings, divided
into specific areas of use, such as emergency shelters and medical clinics.
Some have clothing swaps and barber shops. The coffee shop -- Café Fix --
provides decent food, and everyone at all sites has access to medical
personnel and addiction-treatment strategies.

Addicts have to register at the sites, which are government funded and
supervised. Anyone who violates the program rules is subject to expulsion
and criminal charges. The combination of enforcement with addiction
treatment may be why it works. As Detective McLaren notes, "No one agency
works in isolation."

Frankfurt has had safe injection sites since 1994, and although the program
is considered successful, there is no tangible yardstick to measure its
effectiveness. Perhaps it is enough that residents can now safely walk in
areas that previously belonged to junkies.

The drug world is a world of supply and demand. Enforcement may be better
spent on the traffickers and the users better managed by those in the
social-welfare and medical communities. But whatever we decide to do, as
Detective McLaren says, "We need to advance on all fronts, not just one.
And we better get started."

There are no easy or short-term solutions to this problem. It will take a
coordinated effort by a host of agencies, and a lot of money.

The Downtown Eastside is a land of broken dreams -- for the business
community, the tourists, the residents and those of us who remember when
you could walk from Gastown to Chinatown without thinking twice about it.
If you frequented our city 10 or 15 years ago, you know what's happened
here. But we can't give up on it.

No matter what approach we adopt, it will probably take years to determine
its effectiveness. There are more questions than answers to the dilemma of
what to do with our addicts. But as Detective McLaren says, "It's a
miserable lifestyle. No one voluntarily chooses to be a drug addict."

One thing is certain. Taking the easy way out, by legalizing those actions
we can't control, is not the answer.

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