ADDICTS GATHER TO REMEMBER EAST VANCOUVER DRUG DEATHS

2,000 Crosses Mark Number Of Overdoses In B.C. Since 1992

VANCOUVER -- Tree-lined Oppenheimer Park - with its gravel infield and
lush, green outfield - is a popular spot for softball games, sleeping, drug
dealing, shooting up and dying.

The inner-city park in one of the most drug-infested neighbourhoods in
Canada was the gathering spot yesterday for about 200 addicts who marched
there to stand before 2,000 makeshift crosses erected to mark overdose
deaths in B.C. since 1992.

"Overdosing is the leading cause of deaths in B.C. for people aged 30 to
49," said Bud Osborn, an activist for the blighted area.

"Three years ago we marched here and erected 1,000 crosses and now we've
got 2,000," added the former heroin addict and current street worker with
the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users.

The wooden crosses provided a dramatic effect as some addicts walked slowly
between endless rows, writing names of dead friends and loved ones.

At the back of the park, a huge red flag with "The Killing Fields" printed
in yellow loomed over the crosses.

Addict Harold House, from Hobbema, Alta., stood next to a cross marking the
overdose death three years ago of his common-law wife.

"Ninety per cent of the people I know here are drug addicts," said House,
who buys five to six heroin "flaps" a day.

"The government should look into this problem more seriously. They should
come here and look at the crosses."

Getting heroin in the area is easy and cheap and he said he gets his drug
money honestly. "I do a lot of recycling. I don't do crime."

The markers also provided a backdrop for speakers who chastised the three
levels of government while advocating a more liberal approach to drug use
found in the Netherlands, Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe.

"These are all preventable deaths," said Osborn, who was among those
calling for the establishment of safe injection sites, methadone programs
and treatment centres.

The groups say the B.C. government spends $50 million annually on drug and
alcohol programs, out of the health ministry's $8-billion budget.

Other cities have skid rows frequented by addicts. But Vancouver's skid
row, only a few blocks from trendy Gastown and Chinatown, is unique in Canada.

Authorities estimate there are about 9,000 junkies in the 30 square blocks
of the downtown east side.

Cheap, accessible drugs and needle availability has contributed to huge
increases in tuberculosis, syphilis, hepatitis A, HIV and AIDS and
hepatitis C. One report a few years ago said the notorious area has the
highest rate of HIV infection in the developed world.