ADDICTS NEED CARING: HOLISTIC WAY 'NOT IDEAL'

Treatment for drug addicts is a major concern for Abbotsford council -- and
yesterday councillors heard from officials of the Fraser Health Authority
(FHA) about just what's being offered for the region's addicts.

Abbotsford council has gone on record as opposing the harm reduction
approach to dealing with addicts, such as the needle exchanges planned in
Vancouver.

But part of the presentation by FHA bureaucrats to council stated that the
authority employs a "holistic approach'' that recognizes the goal of
abstinence for some users "may not be practical'' and "harm reduction
strategies are required.''

This did not sit well with Coun. Ed Fast, who firmly stressed to the
delegation that council is unanimously opposed to the harm reduction model,
and that is "a reflection of the general community consensus.

"It's not like we're ignorant on the issue,'' Fast told the delegation, who
said Abbotsford's policy will be relayed to FHA president Robert Smith.

Vivian Giglio, health services administrator for Abbotsford, was joined by
other Fraser Health Authority officers Elizabeth Warren, Frank Fung and
Sherry Mumford in yesterday's presentation, during which councillors were
told that illicit drug overdose has been the leading cause of death for
people 30 to 49 for the fifth year in a row in B.C.

Alcohol-related deaths in the Fraser Health Region in 2000 totalled 415,
council was told.

In the same year, the region's illicit drug deaths were 98, out of a
provincial total of 303.

"What turns people around in this kind of illness is when somebody cares,''
Warren said.

"It's a key element to the outcome.''

She added there are 22 detox beds available in the region, and "the
challenge we have is to double that.''

Those beds are all at Maple Cottage Detox Centre in New Westminster.

"No question, there is a gap,'' Warren added.

"We need to shorten that gap between what we need and what we have.''

A council resolution passed in January made it clear safe injection sites
and needle exchanges are not wanted locally, and will prevent Abbotsford
from becoming a "magnet for socially destructive'' activities, said the
councillor who created it, Simon Gibson.

His motion was endorsed unanimously by the rest of city council.

At the time, Gibson said the council initiative is a "pro-active response''
to the recent recommendations of the House of Commons Special Committee on
the Non-Medical use of Drugs, which were released in December.

Harm reduction figured prominently in the committee's final report, which
has yet to be adopted by the federal government.

Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell has said he will adopt some of the
committee's recommendations via safe injection sites.