COMMUNITY ALLIANCE DOESN'T SPEAK FOR CHINATOWN

To the editor:

I read with dismay the piece "Chinatown group suing city for disregarding
zoning bylaw for drug drop-in centre," Feb. 27.

First, let's make it clear-Chinatown does not oppose the Health Contact
Centre. A handful of business owners and politicians oppose the centre, and
have taken advantage of residents' fears and concerns about safety in their
neighbourhoods to make political hay.

What the leaders of the so-called Community Alliance have consistently
failed to do in their rabid opposition to health services for residents of
the Downtown Eastside/Strathcona neighbourhoods is put forward any sort of
alternative.

We can all agree that the scourge of drug addiction must be stopped, and
that everyone has a right to live in a safe and secure neighbourhood. The
only measures being proposed to move towards those goals are precisely the
ones the Community Alliance politicians would stop by any means possible.

Punishing drug addicts for their illness is as inhumane as would be exiling
cancer patients or the physically challenged to life on the streets or in
prison, but as importantly, it simply doesn't work. When faced with a
course of action that clearly isn't working, the Alliance position is, "Do
it harder." This position has been rejected by everyone involved, including
the police and city council.

Absurdly, the excerpt from the Alliance's campaign materials describes
precisely the problem that the Health Contact Centre is intended to
address, in conjunction with other changes at the Hastings and Main corner.
By offering addicts a place to access services off the street, the Centre
will help to reduce traffic at the corner, while giving them an opportunity
to access the help they need to make changes.

The four-pillar approach to dealing with drug addiction and the street drug
trade has worked in in Europe and the U.S., and in those cities, opposition
groups like the Alliance withered away when faced with the facts.
Prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and enforcement combined in the
coordinated approach agreed to by all levels of government and by all
community groups but the Alliance will save lives and make all our
neighbourhoods safer and happier places. Let's get on with it.

Dale Hofmann, Vancouver