GOVERNMENT, SOCIETY COWER AS DRUG BODY COUNT RISES

When the first vigil for drug overdose victims was held three years ago in
the Downtown Eastside, 1,000 crosses went up at Oppenheimer Park.

Photos were taken, stories were written, and the next day the body bags
began piling up again.

So many, in fact, that a second vigil was held 12 days ago in the same
park - this time with 2,000 wooden crosses, representing the number of
overdose deaths in B.C. since the early '90s.

More photos were taken, more stories written. And now the body bags are
piling up again for the next vigil, which will come up in a few years and
feature 3,000 crosses.

Drug overdose deaths are an ongoing human slaughter and the leading cause of
death for young adults in B.C. Addicts are sick people who need help, not
scorn.

It is a tragic phenomenon that should be resolutely attacked by all three
levels of government and society at large. But in this case, one tragedy is
compounded by another, and that is the shameful failure of government and
society to seriously tackle this public scourge.

The federal government must take the lead role here because it controls
Canada's health and drug laws, both of which need modifying to address the
crisis.

Ottawa knows it has tools at its disposal that can immediately begin to
reduce deaths, disease transmission and crime.

Safe-injection sites, prescription heroin trials, expanded methadone
treatment, housing support - all of these things have been recommended many
times in recent years by a series of blue-chip health and police
organizations that have observed European success in this area.

So what does Ottawa do? Wracked with political fear and paralyzed by
indecision, it sticks with the colossal failure of the crime-based war on
drugs.

Fuelled by an apathetic, uninterested public, provincial and municipal
governments meekly go along with Ottawa's head-in-the-sand approach.

Fed up with waiting and tired of counting body bags, the new Harm Reduction
Action Society plans to open its own Downtown Eastside safe-injection site
by fall.

The concept, proven elsewhere, is to get addicts out of back alleys and into
a clean setting where they won't overdose or infect themselves with AIDS or
hep-C.

These sites also open a window for addicts to get engaged with health
professionals and begin addressing their illness.

The Harm Reduction Action Socity should be applauded for its enlightened
approach. Sadly, it looks as if the "official" authorities are sitting back
and waiting for the life-saving project to fail.

Ottawa's reaction, typically, is silence. B.C. Attorney-General Andrew
Petter won't endorse it unless there is "universal support" in the
community. Street worker John Turvey and health officer Dr. John
Blatherwick question whether it can succeed.

Well, it won't succeed if everyone is going to whine and squirm and look
sideways, perhaps to the morgue. Petter sets a riduculous standard when he
calls for "universal support," something the NDP has never had.

The Harm Reduction Action Society shouldn't have to do this on its own,
outside the law. Ottawa should change the law to make these sites legal and
then offer its full support.

Where is Health Minister Allan Rock? Justice Minister Anne McLellan? Mayor
Philip Owen? Vancouver police?

I suspect they're preparing the writs now to shut the site down the minute
it opens. In case they missed it, I leave them with the words of one astute
Province reader. "Prohibitionists are no mere observers. Their policy is
largely responsible for the genocide in downtown East Vancouver."