RICHMOND LOOKS TO TACKLE DRUG PROBLEM AT ITS ROOT

Richmond may not have the drug problems found in Vancouver's Downtown
Eastside, but some residents may have been lost to the open drug
culture of that neighbourhood over the years.

This is part of what the city's task force on drugs and crime aims to
prevent, according to Mayor Greg Halsey-Brandt.

"A good percentage of the people in the Downtown Eastside come from
somewhere else," said Halsey-Brandt, citing Richmond as an example.

While that Vancouver neighbourhood is dealing with a much more
advanced problem, Richmond has the luxury of tackling the issue at the
root.

"Richmond is clearly quite different," he said. "Our focus is
education and prevention at the front end, as opposed to the
downstream end."

City staff will present a detailed report to a council committee
Monday that outlines the first year of a work plan dealing with drug-
and crime-related issues in the city. The report will recommend
diverting $180,000 of recently-received casino money to the goals of
the task force.

The cash would pay for a full-time co-ordinator, support staff costs,
as well as the costs of implementation, the mayor said.

The mayor says one basic building block of the one-year plan will be
to get the word out to the community, and let people know the nature
of the drug situation in Richmond. "The state of the situation, what
is being done, what is available," Halsey-Brandt said.

One method the city may employ is an advertising campaign, he
added.

Richmond has added a fifth pillar to the four pillars model (harm
reduction, treatment, education and enforcement) used in Vancouver:
inter-agency co-ordination.

"We see one of the pillars is that we have to pull people together on
an ongoing basis, to see what's working and what isn't," said
Halsey-Brandt.

Once the report is approved by council, it will be forwarded to local
agencies such as Richmond Alcohol and Drug Action Team and the school
board, to solicit their input.

"All this (the goals of the report) is contingent upon council's
approval and all the agencies buying into it," he said.

This will be crucial, he says, because they are the ones providing
most of the services.