DRUGS, HOPE, AND THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE

Vancouver Agreement Hits Five-Year Mark; City Council Pushes For More
Innovation

Vancouver's Downtown Eastside has come a long way since the Vancouver
Agreement promised to clean up the neighbourhood's drug-infested streets
five years ago. But take one look at the area and it's obvious: there's
still a long way to go.

The urban revitalisation project, which was jointly funded by the city, the
province, and the federal government, expired March 9. On Tuesday, city
council pledged to continue funding for another five years.

"This is a model that other municipalities want to duplicate," said Wendy
Au, the projects manager at city hall who authored the report recommending
the renewal of the agreement. "The municipality has a big role to play
because we are on the front line."

The project's goals were to revitalise the area near Hastings and Main,
break up the area's open drug markets, ensure decent housing for residents
of the area's rooming houses, and improve safety for the neighbourhood's
residents.

The agreement's first focus has been on the revitalisation of the Downtown
Eastside but Au said that in the next five years the city would be looking
at other neighborhoods.

Since the project began, signs of improvement have taken hold. HIV/AIDS
infection rates have come down, as have overdose drug deaths. Some of that
success can be attributed to the introduction of North America's first safe
injection site.

Much of the public attention focused on the Four Pillars drug strategy--the
city's plan for reducing drug-related harm in Vancouver. The pillars--harm
reduction, prevention, treatment and enforcement, drew both criticism and
support when the program began.

Then-mayor Phillip Owen's support for the city's safe injection site drew
fire from his own civic party, the NPA. The rift eventually led to his
departure from office, and the election of COPE's Larry Campbell.

Au said many people come to the Downtown Eastside from other parts of the
Lower Mainland because of the concentration of health and addiction
services which exist in the neighborhood.

"The Vancouver Agreement is much bigger than the Four Pillars [drug
strategy]," said Jean Kavanagh, communications director at the Vancouver
Agreement coordination unit. "The Vancouver Agreement has worked in
economic and employment as well as social issues and the Four Pillars."

Kavanagh said that the agreement has helped many people get training for a
variety of different jobs and that 25 per cent of the employees at the
newly opened Edgewater Casino live in the Downtown Eastside.

Looking forward to the years ahead, city council is pushing for more
innovative solutions.

Councillor Sam Sullivan, who has championed the idea of harm reduction
since he was voted into city council in 1996, said the city, through the
Vancouver Agreement, should be working towards the legalisation of
prescription heroin.

"For 10 years I have been hearing over and over that this can't be done,"
said Sullivan. "We still have hundreds of people dying and I don't think
that drug maintenance should be focused on the Downtown Eastside."

Mayor Larry Campbell supported Sullivan's motion along with the rest of
council, but said heroin maintenance could not happen because of
international treaties that are under the jurisdiction of the federal
government.

"This isn't something the city can do on its own," said Campbell. "I wish
it was as simple as councilor Sullivan said."

Councillor Tim Louis said that it was important for council to be on the
record in support of prescription heroin and to encourage the federal
government to re-negotiate their international treaties.

"I remember a time when the idea of a safe injection site was really far
out there," said Louis. "I have always said that the quickest way to
eliminate property crime would be to give prescription heroin. The time has
come for society to legalise prescription heroin and cocaine."