RENEWING NEIGHBOURHOODS PART OF DRUG SOLUTION

Prevention, treatment and enforcement, we all agree, are
"harm-reduction" strategies. Ultimately, so is death.

Safe injection sites, as shown by Vancouver's Insite, save lives.

The harm to the individual is but one aspect of the harm caused by
drug use. Property theft to fund the next hit is also sharply on the rise.

There is also the physical devastation of neighbourhoods. Up to 16
square blocks in the core of Vancouver's most historic neighbourhood
have been devastated by rampant drug use.

Police officers agree that enforcement alone won't turn the tide.
What the prevention, treatment and enforcement strategies in
Vancouver have lacked is the right kind of federal support.

We must invest capital in infrastructure to revitalize the stricken
neighborhoods while aggressively combatting mental illness and drug addiction.

Also missing is a healthy flow of municipal tax revenues making it
difficult for the city to function. Last year, Vancouver council
declined police requests for additional officers.

These conditions are threatening our Canadian way of life. But the
last thing we need is an Ottawa government mobilizing to fight a war
on drugs in our most depleted streets.

The party is over, all right. Come on down and do what national
governments alone can do.

Inject capital into these devastated lands even as we get better at
dealing with drug use as a medical problem, and adopt solutions with
a proven track record.

About two years from now the world will decide whether or not we got it right.

Lewis Villegas

Vancouver