'POLICING IS OUR BUSINESS'

A controversial bylaw aimed at controlling alleged illicit activities by
some methadone-dispensing pharmacies received preliminary approval from
Surrey council Monday.

The bylaw is intended to deal with what city solicitor Craig MacFarlane
calls "unprescribed carries," the practice of allowing recovering drug
addicts to take methadone home with them without a doctor's approval.

Most addicts on the program are required to drink their methadone before
leaving the pharmacy but about 20 per cent are legally allowed to take
methadone home, a privilege that can only be given by the doctor treating
the addict.

Police say illegal carries are being sold or traded on the street for other
illegal drugs, adding to the crime problems facing Surrey.

"It is a wakeup call to pharmacies and the provincial government," Mayor
Doug McCallum said.

"I think the methadone program is a good thing. Where the missing link is,
there's no control. A small per cent abuse it and that's who we're going
after."

The new bylaw, which received third reading Monday, will require
pharmacists to keep a record of all methadone patients, the prescribing
doctor, who has carries and how much they're allowed to take.

Pharmacists must already record most of this information under existing
regulations, but Surrey's bylaw adds another requirement that has raised a
storm of protest: Pharmacists must allow police to inspect the patient
register on request.

The B.C. College of Pharmacists, the B.C. College of Physicians and
Surgeons, the provincial privacy commissioner and the B.C. Civil Liberties
Association have all labelled the bylaw an invasion of privacy.

"I believe we're on a slippery slope of invasion into private health
information," said Coun. Penny Priddy, a former NDP health minister.

"I believe we will have several challenges to this from the privacy
commissioner and perhaps from the civil liberties association."

Councillors Barbara Steele and Gary Tymoschuk both said the intention is
not to publicly identify those on the methadone program but to give police
an added tool for investigating illegal activity.

Coun. Marvin Hunt agreed.

"This isn't a health care problem, it's a criminal problem and policing is
our business. When you have a specific problem, you go back to the source
and that's what we're doing," Hunt said.

In the end, council voted 6-3 in favour of the bylaw and also approved
Coun. Dianne Watts' suggestion that the city meet with the various
stakeholders before a final vote.