RAID SHOWS LACK OF TRUST IN HARM REDUCTION

That bust at Main and Hastings a week and a half ago-where Vancouver
cops shut down the needle exchange-shows you just how fragile the
implementation of the harm reduction policy really is, and how little
trust exists among the major players.

The nightly needle exchange has been running out of a tent next to the
Carnegie Centre for the past two years. Supplies are funded by what is
now called the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, part of the
provincial health system.

Addicts from the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) provide
the volunteers who deal out about 1,000 needles every night.

This is considered a low threshhold exchange. Unlike other exchanges
run out of clinics, there is no medical or educational help. The sole
purpose is to reduce the spread of disease caused by dirty needles.

Every other Tuesday, there is a meeting at the Carnegie Centre of all
the groups-including city staff, the cops and the health
authority-involved in implementing the harm reduction policy.

For some time now, the cops have been complaining about the Main and
Hastings needle exchange. The health authority folks say they were
never "formally" told there were concerns about illegal activities.

Further, there is a strong suspicion throughout the harm reduction
community that, in spite of statements to the contrary, the city
police are not really on side.

Remember those Vancouver cops in the Odd Squad who helped organize the
IDEAS drug conference a few weeks ago? It was designed to attack the
drug policy endorsed by the city and the police department and
specifically to decry the harm caused by needle exchanges.

Their views seem to be shared by Inspector Ken Frail, who has specific
responsibility for the Downtown Eastside. After the Main and Hastings
incident, he told one reporter: "This is addicts giving needles to
addicts. I question, myself, how that's going to create a useful
intervention. I don't see how we're going to break that cycle by
giving needles without some kind of medical intervention."

It would be easy enough to argue that Frail and the gang of cops
involved in this action to shut down the needle exchange were a bunch
of cowboys operating inside a department that lacks leadership and
vision. There's a lame duck and frequently absent chief,Terry Blythe,
and a police board headed by a lame duck mayor, Philip Owen. The raid
could also be seen as a bit of harassment and a ploy to divert
attention from the fact that for years, the cops have failed to deal
with Vancouver's drug problem.

Rather than sit down and work out a solution for the needle exchange
to operate better, the police just charged in with guns blazing.

While much of that may be true, there is more.

The health authority is not totally innocent. It may claim it had no
formal notification from the cops of illegal activities at the needle
exchange. But, realizing how jumpy the cops are about this whole
program, and how important their co-operation is, the health authority
could have moved a lot faster to deal with police concerns about the
crowds on the corner and the conduct of volunteers at the exchange.

As for VANDU, they should have done more to keep their own house in
order. The cops claim that just before the bust, one volunteer was
smoking crack, and, as incredible as it may sound in the midst of
Canada's most active illegal drug market place, another volunteer felt
the need to lead an undercover cop by the arm to a drug dealer. All of
this, I'm reliably informed, is recorded on video.

At this point, none of the parties can risk pushing this policy off
the rails. That needle exchange is necessary. The cops should calm
down, the health authority should get a grip and VANDU should clean up
its act.