HEALTHIER OPTIONS NEED EXAMINATION

When Nanaimo gets its first viewing of the Vancouver film Fix: The Story of
an Addicted City at the Avalon Cinema starting tomorrow (May 23), it's
going to serve as a catalyst for a wider debate on the issue of drug abuse
and how to best manage the problem.

The film is the brainchild of filmmaker Nettie Wild, and chronicles in part
the drive by former Vancouver mayor Philip Owen to address the problem of
intravenous drug use on Vancouver's downtown Eastside. Wild has quite
wisely taken the movie on tour through British Columbia and is broadening
the drug abuse debate by presenting community forums following each
showing. Attending will be Owen and other principals from the movie.

The key to the debate is looking at alternatives. One hotly-contested issue
is called the Four Pillars -- prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm
reduction. The stumbling block for its implementation is the concept of
safe injection sites. Supporters point out such sites allow drug use in a
safe environment where health support is accessible. Detractors believe it
enables drug use.

Nanaimo is far from immune to the problem of intravenous drug abuse.
Statistics show that an average of about 15 people a year die of overdoses
in Nanaimo. And yet the problem remains largely invisible to most residents.

Equally invisible are the support services. The concept of harm reduction
views addicts as people with an illness, not as criminals. Either way few
would argue that there are healthier ways to deal with addiction than
shooting up in alleys with used needles. But it costs money to provide
health resources, and spending money on addicts is not popular in today's
regime of cuts.

Unfortunately there's no escaping the cost. The burden of AIDS/HIV,
hepatitis, prostitution, break-ins, extra policing and gangs enriched by
drug money are all costs created by our present strategy on drug abuse.

It's not working. It's time for a sober second look at ways to not
necessarily fight a war on drugs but to best manage drug abuse. Hopefully
even politicians will stop in to view Fix, and more importantly, to
participate in the debate.