CITY'S TEMPORARY DRUG GUY MAKES CASE FOR PERMANENT
JOB

The city's drug policy program should become a permanent department
and its three temporary full-time staff should become regular
full-time staff, says a report to go before council Tuesday.

The cost of the three employees is $240,000 a year, plus $90,000 in
program expenses, wrote Donald MacPherson, the city's drug policy
coordinator, who authored the report.

MacPherson earns $106,000, drug policy planner Zarina Mulla, $81,900,
and a clerk $52,000. Salaries with benefits and program costs equal a
$330,000 annual cost to the city.

"The drug policy program has increased the city's capacity to engage
the community and other levels of government in issues related to the
negative impact of drug use and individuals and communities within
Vancouver," MacPherson said. "Over the past six years, it has provided
city council and the community with considerable information,
expertise, focus and leadership on issues relating to harmful drug use
in Vancouver."

The city has funded the program on a three-year cycle since its
inception in April 2000. Given the magnitude of the city's drug
problem, MacPherson said, the drug policy program should become permanent.

In the report, he provides a list of work the program has been
involved in, including the Four Pillars drug strategy. The four
pillars are harm reduction, prevention, enforcement and treatment.
City council adopted the strategy in 2001. Its major premise is that a
sustained and comprehensive approach to problem drug use must have
"considerable investment" by all levels of government.

He pointed to a need for more housing and an expansion of programs for
mentally ill people with addictions.

Vancouver Coastal Health estimates there are 2,100 people in the
Downtown Eastside with mental health and addiction problems. Many live
in substandard hotel rooms, stay in shelters or are homeless.

The health authority estimates there are another 3,100 people with
multiple problems who are minimally supported and live in unstable
housing, MacPherson said.

The city's Homeless Action Plan calls for 3,200 units of housing
within 10 years, much of which would serve people with mental
illnesses and addictions. The drug policy team will be involved in the
city's plan to locate this type of housing, he said.

Expanding "low-threshold programs" such as the supervised injection
site-Insite on East Hastings-and adding harm reduction facilities for
crack cocaine smokers should also be considered, MacPherson said.

"These services allow crack users to move off of the street into
health settings and provide the police and other front-line services
with a place to send drug users," he added.

MacPherson's request to make the drug policy program permanent comes
as city council receives its first look at the city's preliminary
operating budget estimates for 2007.

A report to go to council Tuesday indicates the city's 2007 estimates
show a funding shortfall of $23.4 million, equivalent to a property
tax increase of 4.9 per cent.