OPENING OUR EYES TO REALITY OF DRUGS

There has and probably always will be a natural competitiveness between
Kamloops and Kelowna over which is the dominant city of the so-called
'heartlands.'In recent years, Kelowna has been a shining example of
economic and population ascent despite the province's overall economic slump.

But on a political level, Kamloops has been the bellwether riding that has
determined the winner of provincial election for the last 70 years. No
party has been elected to a majority government without winning a Kamloops
seat.

That indicates a community that is progressive in its thinking with the
changing political times, and perhaps that characteristic is also prevalent
in why Kamloops has left us behind on another issue--addressing intravenous
drug use.

Unlike Kelowna, Kamloops has publicly acknowledged the problem exists in
its backyard and has brought together civic government, law enforcement,
business and public education officials to examine it closer and attempt to
find a solution.

In contrast, our city too often tends to turn an ignoring eye to the
problem. It was a sad state of affairs that organizers behind the showing
of the drug addiction documentary on the Eastside in Vancouver called Fix
had to publicly call upon public officials to even bother taking an
interest in the film's subject matter or post-screening panel discussion
sessions.

One of the biggest problems to overcome in dealing with drug addiction in
any community is first realizing that it indeed exists.

Kamloops has developed a response tagged the Four Pillars Review that
involves needle exchange programs, methadone treatment availability and
education program on how to deal with discarded syringes. And that is just
the start.

While Fix emphasized the problem in Vancouver, there is a lesson to be
learned by other communities, large and small, across B.C. about how to
deal with intravenous drug use, and we in Kelowna so far have not been very
attentive students.