POLITICIANS CAMPAIGNING ON METH

COPE Coun. Ellen Woodsworth will call for a public forum Tuesday at
city council to examine the crystal methamphetamine problem facing the city.

Woodsworth said a forum is needed after the Nov. 19 election to
answer questions politicians, residents and others have about the
drug that is being used largely by street youth and gay men.

"I'm calling for a community forum because I think we do need to get
out there and expose the myths and present the realities of what it's
all about," said Woodsworth, who is seeking a second term on council.

Her request for a forum comes after NPA mayoral candidate Sam
Sullivan announced Thursday that his party would create a crystal
meth task force. Sullivan wants the provincial government to pay
$10,000 to establish the body.

Woodsworth noted the city already belongs to the Methamphetamine
Response Committee, a two-year-old committee chaired by Vancouver
Coastal Health.

She also pointed out Crystal Clear, an organization that is helping
youth with crystal meth addictions, is effective in getting young
people off the drug.

"[Sullivan] is calling for a crystal meth task force and we already
have an excellent methamphetamine response committee that's got
everybody at the table," she said. "I just think he's trying to score
political points rather than dealing with what we've already done in
the city, which is very good."

Though Woodsworth noted crystal meth addiction is a problem, heroin
and cocaine remain the drugs of choice in the city. Vancouver has
never had a task force that focused on one drug, she said.

Donald Macpherson, the city's drug policy coordinator, has written
the report Preventing Harm from Psychoactive Substance Use. The
revised report will go before council Tuesday.

Two recommendations in the report include establishing a prevention
task force and continuing to work with Vancouver Coastal Health, the
Centre for Addictions Research of B.C., the provincial government and
the Methamphetamine Response Committee to create a prevention
strategy related to crystal meth.

Macpherson noted that people who use crystal meth often use other
drugs and alcohol. Drug policy should not be specific to a single
drug, he said.

"We're constantly trying to keep the discussion about prevention not
drug-specific and to acknowledge that most drug use takes place in a
poly-drug use context," he said. "Having said that, there may be
times when you'd have a subcommittee on crystal meth and you try and
do some specific work. So I don't want to sound like I'm dissing the
whole idea."

Sullivan said the NPA's plan for a task force was partly in reaction
to Mayor Larry Campbell calling the so-called meth epidemic "garbage"
at a recent drug forum.

Sullivan also accused Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate Jim Green of
distancing himself from Campbell's comment.

"To me 'garbage' is not one of those ambiguous words, so it's pretty
clear to me that these guys [Campbell and Green] don't believe it's a
big problem," Sullivan said.

At the forum, Campbell called the threat of crystal meth exaggerated
and stressed the focus should be shifted to housing and social
services for addicts and finding out why people become addicted.

The NPA-driven crystal meth task force announced Thursday would
include tougher bylaws to deal with meth labs. B.C. recorded 37
crystal meth-related deaths in 2004, and 12 of those were Vancouver residents.