DRUG USERS DESERVE SAFE SITES

We should all be thankful to live in a city that provides care rather
than scorn for its needy citizens.

Worldwide, drug laws are usually designed to punish people rather
than help them, and drug users are looked upon as junkies who should
be thrown in the slammer and left to rot. In Vancouver, we prefer to
think of drug users as fellow citizens whom we can afford to assist
in their time of need.

When North America's first supervised injection site opened here in
2003, it was a clear sign citizens could get help if they needed it.

Rather than throwing costly police operations and unhelpful moral
judgments at the situation, our city focused on the health problems
drug use created. A progressive city council, an understanding
public, and a desperate police department all came together to give
our city an opportunity to do something right.

Studies report the injection site is successful. In 2004, over 600
people used it daily, an increase from 300 the previous year. Police
say rates of disease among drug users are down and the Downtown
Eastside is safer. Over 1,000 injection site users have been referred
to addiction counselling services in the last year.

A study in the American Journal for Preventive Medicine said the site
is attracting those it was designed to attract: drug users with a
high risk of getting diseases like HIV and hepatitis C.

Even some of the site's most vocal critics are convinced of the
program's merit.

George Chow, a prominent Chinese community leader, ran as an
independent candidate for city council in 2002 on a platform opposed
to an injection site downtown. He lost, but the 18,000 votes he got
spoke loudly.

Chow opposed the site because he feared it would attract more crime
and violence to Chinatown.

Morally, Chow believed drug use was a sign of personal failure and he
felt the injection site would encourage drug use instead of punish it.

Now, Chow is a changed man. He supports the injection site, saying it
has improved the Downtown Eastside and the surrounding areas.

This election, he won a council position as a member of Vision
Vancouver, running alongside one of the site's champions, Jim Green.

More revealingly, Chow says he has changed his views on drug use.

"I began to see drug addiction as a health issue and not a criminal
matter," Chow told The Tyee last month.

Chow's conversion proves it's all a matter of perspective.

You can concentrate on how immoral or illegal it is to use drugs. Or
you can choose to see suffering human beings who deserve society's
help as much as anybody else with a health problem.

Replacing righteousness with compassion isn't just a nice thing to
do. It creates a better society.

As Vancouver's supervised injection site shows, it does a better job
solving our most difficult problems.