HARD HABIT TO BREAK

Speakers at a public forum today will urge the community to get mobilized
in the war on drugs if they want to see a positive change in Kelowna. The
community safety and harm-reduction forum will be led by Mayor Walter Gray
and will feature a variety of speakers from police to social agencies.

It takes place at the Mary Irwin Theatre in the Rotary Centre for the Arts,
from 9 a.m. to noon.

The four-pillars approach - prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm
reduction - will be at the centre of the discussion.

Daryle Roberts of the AIDS Resource Centre in Kelowna says the goal of the
forum is to form a community task force that will look into what can be
done about drug issues in the city.

"It has to be a community solution," said Roberts. "The community can
influence the politicians who can make the money flow." Roberts said all
three levels of government must unite to address the problem.

There is a glaring need for more detox beds, not only in Kelowna but
throughout the province. With a provincial population of more than four
million people, Roberts said there are only 67 detox beds in all of British
Columbia.

He says there is only a 15-minute window to get an addict into a detox bed
before they change their mind. The only detox facility in Kelowna is
Crossroads, which has eight beds.

Roberts admits drug abuse is a big issue to tackle, but will grow into an
even bigger problem unless some effort is made immediately to address the
issue.

"We're a city that's growing. Projections show by 2020 our population will
grow by 50 per cent," said Roberts.

"We have huge issues in Kelowna." Kelowna RCMP Insp. Bill McKinnon said the
four pillars must be intertwined if any improvement is to be made. Police
are responsible for the enforcement aspect of drugs and crime, but they are
fighting an uphill battle without treatment, prevention and harm-reduction
initiatives.

"It's not just an enforcement issue," said McKinnon, who will address the
forum today.

McKinnon said police want to do more than just roust drug users. He said
social programs are needed to get to the root of the problem. "It's a
community problem. It's not just a policing problem," said McKinnon.

Const. Don Powell has seen first-hand the effects drugs have on people and
the community.

The drug squad member told The Daily Courier last week he could not
remember a robbery that was not committed by a
drug addict looking for quick cash for a fix.

Const. Heather Macdonald said crime is part of the drug-addict mentality,

"Their focus is on themselves. They don't care who they hurt," said Macdonald.

The impact of drugs on the city can be seen daily. The Downtown Patrol
responded to 266 drug incidents during the summer and collected 729 used
hypodermic needles. Kathleen Wood, a Kelowna street nurse with Outreach
Health, said the centre exchanged 55,000 needles last year,

That number does not signify the number of people in Kelowna who are
injecting drugs, since drug users take advantage of the program by
returning frequently to exchange used needles for clean ones.

Roberts said that program forms one of the four pillars, under the
harm-reduction category.

Wood said Kelowna's needle-exchange program started in 1998.