AN EPIDEMIC OF SOCIAL CONSCIENCE

If you believe the politicians running for City Hall this Saturday, the
most important issue in Vancouver is safe injection sites for heroin addicts.

There are at least 5,000 heroin addicts in Vancouver, which means that the
other 1,995,000 are not heroin addicts. You'd think we'd worry about stuff
people worry about when they're not wondering where their next fix is
coming from, like taxes and traffic.

Nope. Larry Campbell, who insists we need safe injection sites, is leading
his closest opponent for mayor by more than 2 to 1. As former chief
coroner, he put in 20 years of dealing with death by overdose -- and his
powerful street cred has hijacked the campaign. Yet he has no political
experience. Meantime, rival Jennifer Clarke, a no-nonsense city councillor,
has spent the past decade paying her dues. If we believe the polls, Ms.
Clarke is toast, as voters seem entranced by the man who inspired CBC-TV's
Da Vinci's Inquest,which is often set in the heroin-infested Downtown Eastside.

Mr. Campbell is so worked up about safe injection sites, he thinks we also
need them in upscale Shaughnessy and Dunbar, where the drug of choice is
single-malt Scotch. Ms. Clarke has been reduced to solemnly seconding the idea.

Before succumbing to this epidemic of social conscience, it's worth
pointing out that some of the people who work with heroin addicts daily
aren't sold on the merits of safe injection sites. Judy McGuire, manager at
the Downtown Eastside Youth Activities Society and responsible for the
needle exchange program, has even more street cred than Da Vinci and is
"baffled" by the emergence of safe injection sites as the No. 1 issue at
City Hall.

For one thing, such sites are only a fraction of the "four pillar" approach
to fighting drug addiction. It's part of the "harm reduction" pillar and
can't stand alone without treatment, enforcement and education.

Second, safe injection sites are not safe drug sites. Addicts will turn up
with drugs from unknown sources, while trained medical personnel make sure
they have a clean needle and sanitary spot in which to shoot up. How long
before both medicos and addicts balk at such an unlikely scenario?

Third, safe injection sites ignore other drugs such as crack, which is not
usually injected. And crack is arguably as big a problem as heroin.

Fourth, sites may attract pushers. Enthusiasts brush aside such concerns by
citing the enforcement pillar, but pushers operate openly on the streets
now; it's hard to believe that increased tolerance toward heroin use will
decrease the number of pushers supplying the users.

Finally, most overdoses don't happen on the street, but in the addicts'
homes, however humble, and Ms. McGuire wonders whether they'll venture into
the rain and cold to subject themselves to official scrutiny just to avoid
a risk.

She doesn't object to safe injection sites if they're accompanied by detox
and treatment -- which are funded by the province, which is in the middle
of severe cutbacks to social programs. How likely is it that the other
pillars will be put into place? Oh, and did I mention that safe injection
sites are a federal responsibility?

So, if the four-pillar program is primarily a federal and provincial
matter, why is one of its pillars the key issue in Saturday's civic
election? A cynic could applaud Larry Campbell's astute focus on an issue
- -- unlike taxes or traffic -- that won't come home to roost. He may be a
rookie, but he learns fast.