MORE HARM THAN GOOD

Mobile Needle Truck Could Beat City Bylaw

Abbotsford's drug users plan to march on city hall today with coffins
and a 'die-in' to draw attention to the consequences of an Abbotsford
bylaw that advocates say does more harm than good.

The city's 'harm reduction-free' bylaw runs counter to accepted public
health policies and puts the general community at risk, said Ann
Livingston with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU).

"If you want to spread disease, you would not want to have a needle
exchange. It's mean-spirited and odd. It defies logic," she said.

The rally today also marks World Hepatitis Day, May 19. Abbotsford has
the third highest rate of Hepatitis C in British Columbia, and B.C.'s
rate of Hep C is double the national rate, she said.

"Hepatitis C in spread by blood-to-blood contact only, and is
completely preventable," said Livingstone. The city's bylaw is
"irresponsible" by preventing harm reduction measures to address the
public health issue, she said.

The 2003 bylaw bans needle exchanges, injection sites, freestanding
methadone clinics and mobile clinics from setting up shop in the city.

The mayor at the time, Mary Reeves, said such services would attract
drugs users from other communities and dealers looking for clients.

Spurred on by-then Abbotsford MP Randy White, Reeves and the
councillors, which included current mayor George Peary, unanimously
declared the city "unequivocally opposed" to harm reduction
strategies, even though it went counter to policies held by the Fraser
Health Authority and the Lower Mainland Municipal Association.

Peary said at the time he didn't buy the idea that harm reduction gets
users closer to treatment.

"What they're doing is extending the harm, the pathological behavior.
As a society we can't allow this to happen," he said.

Even though needle exchanges are banned from the city, last August
Fraser Health authorized Barry Shantz of the B.C./Yukon Association of
Drug War Survivors to distribute needles in Abbotsford.

"Each month the [B.C.] Centre for Disease Control delivers thousands
of needles to a location, I pick them up and put the boxes in my van,
and then cruise the streets and back alleys [to deliver clean needles
to the city's drug users]," said Shantz.

The bylaw makes no sense from a public health perspective, he said.
Shantz added that people around the world look to Vancouver to see how
it delivers harm reduction options in its Downtown Eastside, and
they'd be surprised to learn "that just one hour away there is a
community that promotes harm."

- - The rally starts at 2 p.m. outside Abbotsford City Hall, at 32315
South Fraser Way.