USE VITAMINS, NOT NEEDLES, TO FIGHT ADDICTION, SAYS MP

MP Randy White was going to talk about harm reduction and drug addiction -
but ended up having to apologize for a federal bureaucrat's now infamous
"moron'' comment about U.S. President George Bush.

However, that brief sidetrack during a conference in Baja California didn't
distract White from continuing to emphasize "harm reduction'' - such as safe
injection sites - is not the answer to dealing with addiction.

"I was talking to about 400 people about the problems up here, and I had to
do some quick apologizing.

"It is embarrassing when anybody says that kind of stuff - we're the first
ones to say to the Americans, `We need your help,' and 85 per cent our trade
is with the United States,'' he told the Abbotsford News after his return
from Mexico this week.

While in Mexico for the international symposium, he visited the Second
Chance program at the Ensenada State Prison, which involves getting people
off their addictions.

"They're using vitamins, non addictive solutions of calcium and magnesium,
spas, massage.'' The program has a 90 per cent success rate, he said.

"It's physically getting people back into shape, as opposed to the idea of
harm reduction, which is what I call harm extension.''

A total of 41 recommendations from a Parliamentary committee on drugs will
be presented at a press conference in Vancouver on Dec. 9.

There, White - the committee's vice-chair - will join MPs Hedy Fry and Libby
Davies following 18 months of cross-country hearings and study. While White
could not go into specifics, he said two of those recommendations will deal
with harm reduction and marijuana.

As for proposals for safe injection sites in Vancouver - in areas such as
the downtown eastside - he said: "I can understand why people support it,
they've given up.

"Politicians are not supporting them.''

He cited a treatment centre in Langley for drug-addicted teenage girls that
had to close for lack of funding. "I've actually seen safe shootup sites in
Europe, and they're a magnet for addicts.''

Safe injection sites in Vancouver will attract addicts, including those from
the U.S., to the Lower Mainland, White believes.

"The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency would agree. The harm reduction model is
not an issue in the United States and Mexico. "Even in Holland, they're
saying, maybe this didn't quite work out right.''

The MPs comments come as the new Abbotsford council will deal with the
recommendations of a committee tasked with finding a location for a drug
detox centre and bridge house for recovering addicts.