GIULIANI BLASTS INSITE

"America's mayor" isn't a fan of Canada's first and only supervised
injection site.

In town to speak at a conference in Surrey yesterday, former New York
mayor Rudy Giuliani told reporters he would oppose a facility like
Vancouver's Insite from ever opening in the United States.

"I think heroin is a very deadly drug and I don't think anyone should
be encouraged to use it or be assisted in using it," Giuliani said. "I
think that's a terrible mistake."

Some have credited Giuliani with overseeing a significant drop in
crime while New York mayor. Giuliani himself attributes part of what
he says was a 60 per cent drop in the crime rate over seven years to a
plan that targeted lower-level drug dealers and a computerized
crime-tracking system.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said she supports parts of Giuliani's
approach to crime reduction, an offshoot of the "broken windows"
theory that has also been labeled as "zero tolerance."

But she says the city is missing needed elements like a community
court, one of which opened this month in Vancouver, and enough
treatment options for the city's drug addicts.

"That's what falls short," Watts said. "You've got people waiting for
two weeks. If you can't get into treatment for two weeks, that window
of opportunity is lost."

YOU Should Know

- - Giuliani's appearance at the Surrey Regional Economic Summit was
paid for by corporate sponsors, Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said. The
city chipped in $15,000 to help stage the conference.