DOWNTOWN DRUG PROBLEM NEEDS NEW APPROACH

There's an ironic symbolism in the city's latest attempt to deal with
rampant intravenous drug use in the downtown core.

In reaction to media reports detailing the recent increase in needle
addicts and associated paraphernalia at the Johnson Street parkade,
city council decided to add extra security, installed locking gates
and announced plans to paint the parkade white While some have used
the term "whitewash" in reference to the upcoming paint job, the
entire exercise illustrates a short-sighted approach to the problem
that has failed city hall time and again -- paint it a pretty colour
and pretend it doesn't exist.

It's not like we can congratulate Mayor Lowe and his councillors for
acting on their own initiative. Measures for the Johnson Street
parkade were announced only after the media shone its spotlight on the
problem.

The same thing happened this fall when residents of Fernwood
complained their neighbourhood had been overrun by addicts.

The Fernwood complaints abated after city officials and police stepped
up enforcement and launched a crackdown on an apartment building rife
with illegal activity.

But it's no surprise that, instead of disappearing, IV drug users
simply moved on. In that sense, the city's heroin addicts are a lot
like mushrooms -- pick one here, another one pops up there.

Many Fernwood residents believe that addicts started showing up in
their neighbourhood in the wake of the city's attempts to clean up
downtown through increased enforcement.

Last week a frustrated Lowe acknowledged that the parkade measures are
only a band-aid solution to a problem that can only be solved with the
co-operation of police, health officials, social agencies and the city.

Those are enlightened words, but they don't mesh with his
actions.

Law enforcement has been tried over and over. On Thursday and Friday
night last week, after the city took action on the parkade, there was
a heavy police presence at the corner of Douglas Street and Pandora
Avenue.

However, officers posted to the downtown core readily admit that drug
addiction has to be treated as a health and social issue.

Despite the mayor paying lip service to the concept, city council has
taken no concrete action other than enforcing the laws and, in the
case of Johnson Street parkade, adding physical impediments to curb
illegal activity.

When the federal government last fall announced plans to allow safe
injection sites, Lowe took a wait-and-see approach, saying Victoria
might consider such a site if the experiment is successful elsewhere.
But that could take years.

Lowe's lukewarm support for safe injection sites no doubt stems in
part from a perception that Victoria voters aren't ready for such a
forward-thinking idea. But there are times when elected officials need
to show leadership, not simply accede to the parochial views of those
who put them in office.

For a little more ironic symbolism, take a walk to the corner of
Douglas Street and Pandora Avenue late some evening.

You'll see dealers selling drugs, prostitutes soliciting customers,
drunks staggering into alleyways to vomit. All of this happens,
literally, on the doorstep of city hall. And our elected officials are
either powerless, paralyzed or lack the vision to make a positive change.