CRACK-PIPE SOLUTION MISSES BIG QUESTION

When it comes to giving drug addicts taxpayer-funded services,
there's a fine line between providing them with health care and
enabling them to continue their destructive and unhealthy lifestyle.

Many Province readers clearly feel that the Vancouver Coastal Health
Authority has crossed that line with its decision to hand out free
crack pipes in the Downtown Eastside.

As Province reporter Cassidy Olivier has noted, it's part of a trial
program to reduce injuries to addicts' lips and mouths that can make
them more susceptible to Hepatitis B and C and even HIV.

The pipes will be included in 60,000 drug kits that are expected to
be distributed over eight months. The health authority says this will
help steer the crack smokers toward detox services.

Let's hope it does. Crack cocaine is a scourge on society and a major
cause of crime and other human misery.

However, we're inclined to agree with the Drug Prevention Network of
Canada, a national anti-drug group, that the public authority should
focus much less on "harm reduction" and far more on drug treatment
and prevention.

This, of course, is not a clear-cut issue. And we sympathize fully
with health professionals who are anxious to save lives and curb the
spread of disease in the notorious skid-row district.

Our view, though, is that one of the reasons why the Downtown
Eastside has such deep-seated social problems is that
well-intentioned but naive community leaders have not only allowed
drug use to flourish, but even encouraged it.

Indeed, some go so far as to argue that our tolerant attitude toward
drugs is one reason why Vancouver is such a great city.

But if it's so great, why do so many people seem to need to use them?
That's the question we should all be asking.