POLICE DRUG CRACKDOWN IN VANCOUVER CRITICIZED

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - A police crackdown on drug dealers in
downtown Vancouver is causing more harm than good for the neighborhood's
AIDS and hepatitis epidemic, a Human Rights Watch report says, asserting
addicts are being driven away from needle-exchange programs and other services.

Called Operation Torpedo, the crackdown has removed some pushers from the
streets, "but at a high cost," said the report issued Wednesday by the New
York-based rights group. Its findings were echoed by health care workers,
activists and addicts.

Health workers fear a new wave of HIV and hepatitis C cases in Vancouver,
which already has the highest infection rate in North America. The British
Colombia Center for Disease Control puts the AIDS rate among area addicts
at more than 30 percent, while well over half the intravenous drug users
are infected with hepatitis C.

Vancouver police say the crackdown is aimed at dealers, not users, with a
goal of ridding the area of pushers while keeping addicts near the services
they need.