A PRECIOUS OPPORTUNITY TO DEAL WITH ADDICTION

As The Vancouver Sun's two-week series on drugs shows, addressing the
Downtown Eastside's social, economic, health and civic malaise is not
just urgent, it's imperative. That a prosperous and fair city like
ours can harbour one of the most vile drug ghettos in the world
blights us, in our collective conscience, our individual pocketbooks
and, most tragically, through the thousands of human lives wasted and
lost.

A concerted effort to address these problems is long overdue. That
we're now moving forward with a plan for action is heartening. But
before we collectively pat ourselves on our backs, a couple of cautions:

- - Drafting a plan is the easy part. Implementation is the real test,
and that work is yet to be done.

- - Even the best-laid plan will take time to implement -- a lot of
time. Governments will change, the social climate will blow hot and
cold. It will take resolve to hold the course and achieve the goals.

For today, though, we salute the progress made over the past
year.

The Vancouver Agreement was inked last February by federal, provincial
and city authorities. It was essentially a promise by the three levels
of government to work together to tackle the woes of a neighbourhood
that has become a drug ghetto. Often, such political promises aren't
worth the paper they're written on -- and this one was disconcertingly
vague. In hindsight, though, it may be seen as a harbinger of the
leadership now being shown. Politicians are demonstrating willingness
to go forward with a concerted and intelligent attack on Vancouver's
shame.

The second big step was Vancouver's sweeping drug strategy and harm
reduction plan, championed by Mayor Philip Owen and released last
month. The $30-million plan is designed around four so-called pillars
- -- enforcement, harm reduction, treatment and prevention. It is
premised on two goals: treatment for addiction and enforcement of law.
The plan now goes to public consultation. It will no doubt prove to be
imperfect. But it's an admirable start.

Part of the plan calls for a pilot drug treatment court -- and that's
where we see the third significant shift forward from the unacceptable
status quo. This week, Ottawa announced it would set up drug courts in
all major cities by 2004. The courts will be modelled on a pilot
project in Toronto, where non-violent drug offenders are sent for
mandatory treatment instead of jail. The Toronto project was inspired
by specialized drug courts originally established in 1989 in Florida.
They've proved so successful in combatting recidivism that several
hundred courts throughout the U.S. now channel addicts into treatment,
retraining and a new life.

During the federal election campaign, one of the Liberals' crime
prevention promises concerned funding for a national drug strategy. It
promised new approaches to enforcement, including drug courts. Justice
Minister Anne McLellan is to be commended for her prompt action,
immediately on the heels of the election.

"The costs are infinitesimal compared to what you can save if you can
actually treat these people and turn them into productive citizens,"
she said. "Otherwise, they're just going to come back out on the
streets and do the same thing over again."

The drug court is one piece of a strategy that will form a cure for
the Downtown Eastside. Much more needs to be done.

The most contentious part of the plan will be the proposal for safe
injection sites for addicts who don't want treatment.

We support these sites, fully respecting the concerns of opponents. If
set up and managed properly, they will take addicts off the hazardous
streets and provide a clean and relatively safe place to feed their
addiction, with help at hand if needed. The risk is small that such
sites will encourage more people to experiment with drugs.

A less obvious barrier to taking concerted action is the plethora of
Downtown Eastside agencies that have been set up to help people there.
Some are priceless assets. Some are in the league of enablers. Many
fall somewhere in between.

The biggest issue involving the agencies is that too often they work
at cross-purposes. The immediate hurdle the drug plan will have to
leap is convincing all of them to buy into the goals and the
processes, and work together without squabbling.

We suggest a review of each agency that receives public money to
ensure its objectives are compatible with the overarching plan to
clean up the Downtown Eastside. This information should be made
public, so private donors to non-government agencies can know which
are on-side.

We realize there will be strong opposition to many aspects of the
campaign to clean up the Downtown Eastside. But the festering problem
of drug abuse -- and it's not confined to the few blocks of the
Downtown Eastside -- won't go away on its own. Each year, about 200
addicts die of drug overdoses in the Lower Mainland. Others are killed
by associated health problems like AIDS or hepatitis. Much of the
city's property crime has been linked to addicts who steal to feed
their habits. Almost all these problems stem, directly or indirectly,
from the open drug market that we call the Downtown Eastside.

A massive effort has begun to deal with these problems. Public opinion
seems to be largely in favour. Politicians have committed money and
resolve.

This is an opportunity Vancouver cannot afford to waste.