DRUG STRATEGY LONG OVERDUE

A tuft of visionless independents with memorable names, incumbency
and pretty signs does not constitute the sort of leadership that
Abbotsford needs to move forward.

I am talking about city council and its wretched performance
delivering on what this city really needs to be sustainable.

Street-level drug use, associated property crime and the underlying
social dilemmas are not even on the radar of this council aside from
lip service, jackboots and civic deportation of our most desperate citizens.

We have a Tory federal government telling us that federal support of
progressive community based drug initiatives is on the chopping block
and that the real solution is to lock the junkies and hookers up forever.

We have the B.C. Attorney General, Wally Oppal, saying the opposite:
"We have to get involved as a community. This is not a job the courts
can do alone. We need to start treating the root causes of crime so
we don't have the revolving-door syndrome we're now suffering from."

Lastly, we have a council majority so far removed from reality that
the notion of a drug problem on the streets of Abbotsford is
something to be discussed in 175 years.

I am not about to jump on Tim Felger's bandwagon; even though dressed
in chaps with a 10-gallon cowboy hat leading a convoy of stoned
supporters, coupled with his sense of dramatic and explicit humour,
the trip would no doubt be worth the $5 he charges for political advice.

I will give him this - a community based four pillars modelled drug
strategy is long overdue here.

The four pillars drug strategy, in particular its harm reduction
component, is misunderstood in our community. I blame that on the
resilience of our political leaders to take a firm position on a life
and death matter in place of fear mongering to garner easy votes.

Prevention shows forethought, enforcement maintains order, harm
reduction displays commitment and treatment grants a second chance.
It is time we gave this some serious thought. I am sure Jesus would.

We can shutter out the progressive and sensible world, but I assure
you it is not long before we all realize that preaching abstinence in
the face of an addiction that has caused someone to steal from their
parents, give up their children, gleefully live on the streets and
work from a pimp is not going to cut it.

Dear political leaders, someone in Abbotsford has to champion a
progressive drug strategy so that our community stands a chance in this battle.

Each of you know as well as I do that success will be had in
co-operation with municipal, provincial and federal governments, our
local health authority and community stakeholders.

Will one of you be the bigger person or are we going to let Hep C,
AIDS, murder and overdoses eliminate the problem? I have a funny
feeling though that MP Ed Fast has better things to do, city council
couldn't give a damn and Mike de Jong and John van Dongen are too
busy smooching with our model social conscious, Captain Cutbacks,
Gordon Campbell.

Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson is an Abbotsford resident