VPD PUTTING TOGETHER OFFICIAL POLICY ON DRUGS

A Vancouver police inspector is drafting a drug policy for the
department to give officers and the public a clear understanding of
the police's role in a city plagued by drug use and political jousting
over harm reduction.

Insp. Scott Thompson, the department's drug policy coordinator, said
the policy will likely be the first of its kind for a Canadian police
force. It's still in draft form and being reviewed by the city and the
Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, Thompson said.

"It had become evident to me that on a whole number of fronts,
Vancouver is the location in North America, and in some cases looked
to by Europe, where a lot of drug policy issues are going to be
implemented, debated and have more dialogue about," Thompson said. "I
proposed that it was important for the organization to have a position."

Vancouver is acknowledged for a widespread culture of drug use, and
police have used various tactics to curb drug activity. Coupled with
that have been doctors and politicians calling for more harm reduction
and less enforcement.

Over the last decade, the amount of drug use and number of overdose
drug deaths increased substantially in the city. Drug activity led to
an open air drug market in the Downtown Eastside and saw an increase
in drug users going to court for possession charges.

The courts were plugged with cases related to possession of a small
quantity of drugs. Politicians called for a new drug strategy where
addicts should be treated and provided harm reduction, and after much
debate, the city adopted the Four Pillars drug strategy of enforcement,
treatment, education and harm reduction. Police focused solely on capturing
drug dealers.

"With scarce resources, it made more sense to focus on dealers than to
go after the addicted user," Thompson said.

The city has since opened North America's only legal injection site on
East Hastings in September 2003. The city is also the location for a
federal government-backed heroin maintenance trial program.

At the same time, police reversed a longstanding police practice not
to arrest drug users for possession. In November, police launched a
crackdown against drug users who were openly injecting and smoking
drugs on the street. In February, the police extended the crackdown to
crack cocaine smokers.

Thompson wouldn't discuss how enforcement and harm reduction will be
adopted in the police's drug policy, saying the police board still has
to review the document. He said the document will be reviewed
regularly so it continues to be relevant to what's occurring in the
city.

Another first for the Vancouver police is its overdose drug policy.
Police no longer attend non-fatal drug overdoses in an effort to
reduce drug overdose deaths. Research out of Australia has shown
friends of users who overdosed are afraid to phone for help because
they fear they will be arrested. As a result, their friend dies.

The Vancouver police's policy was enacted in December 2003, and now
only paramedics attend-unless police are needed to deal with a crime
or emergency related to the overdose.

Vancouver police board gave formal approval to the policy on
Wednesday. Sgt. Adam Palmer, who presented a report to police board,
said he couldn't say whether overdose deaths decreased because of the
policy.

"That would be a difficult thing to do because there could be other
things affecting the data," Palmer told the Courier after the meeting.
"There could be changes into what sorts of things get into the drug
supply [and cause an overdose]."

Vancouver and a police department in San Jose, California are believed
to be the only departments to have such a policy.

"We want to put people's minds at rest that it's strictly a medical
situation," Palmer said. "The ambulance will attend and deal with it
as a medical emergency."