GRAPPLING WITH DRUG USE

FIRST UNITED Church has announced that it may open a temporary
unauthorized injection site for drug users in the heart of
Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Rev. Ruth Wright says the First United Church board feels that
'safe-injection sites' are essential in addressing the health
problems related to drug use in their community.

"We don't particularly want to break the law, but we can't afford --
in terms of human life -- to see this stalled much longer." Wright
adds that she is delighted that a few downtown health sites were
opened in December. "That's wonderful," she says, "but safe-injection
sites are the next step, and we need them as quickly as possible."

In early December, on World AIDS Day, the church hosted a mock-up of
a safe-injection site, prepared by the Harm Reduction Action Society
(HRAS) and modeled after similar sites in Frankfurt. Brian Burke,
minister of congregation and mission at First United, says the church
would consider erecting an actual safe-injection site -- simply as a
temporary demonstration -- "if the government did not make any
significant move in the next half-year."

Harm Reduction

The church's announcement comes just over a year after Mayor Philip
Owen unveiled his 'four pillar' plan for dealing with the city's drug
problem. Three of the pillars -- prevention, treatment and enforcing
laws against the manufacture and distribution of drugs -- are widely
accepted; but the fourth, 'harm reduction,' is still controversial.
Modeled after similar programs in Europe and Australia, it entails
providing addicts with clean needles and safe places to take their
drugs -- and possibly even providing them with medically prescribed
drugs.

Churches and agencies that work with drug addicts are still debating
the merits of this approach. Harm reduction advocates say
safe-injection sites save lives, by allowing drug users a degree of
stability and cleanliness -- which may reduce the spread of HIV and
hepatitis C, and keep drug users alive long enough to kick their
habits for good. The sites also put drug users in contact with health
care workers who could help them find more thorough treatment.

But opponents say such measures are ineffective at best, and could
encourage drug use. And even those who advocate harm-reduction
techniques are divided on the significance of First United's
announcement.

Mayor Philip Owen says safe-injection sites are just one of the
city's many proposals -- and that, if they are installed, they should
be part of the wider program from the start. "For First United Church
to just open a safe-injection site without it fitting into an overall
strategy and plan, to do it without coordination with other
activities that need to take place, I think is wrong," he says.

On the other hand, David Diewert, a member of the community health
committee for the Downtown Eastside, Strathcona and
Grandview-Woodlands districts, says safe-injection sites provide
addicts with a healthier alternative to back alleys. Diewert believes
churches should possibly set up such sites.

"If it means a series of arrests, then so be it, let's get them open.
It seems criminal to me to have so many overdose deaths in the
province, knowing that overdose deaths have gone down in other cities
[which have safe-injection sites]."

He adds, "I find it intriguing that people don't want the street
scene, they don't want people shooting up outdoors -- but they don't
want any place to put them, either."

Donald MacPherson, the city's drug policy coordinator, says First
United's announcement has had a positive effect -- because it keeps
the issue "very much alive" and encourages people to learn about the
way these facilities operate. But he says the city would prefer not
to open supervised injection sites unless it did so in conjunction
with several other cities. "For Vancouver to be the only place is
difficult for politicians to accept," he says.

Spiritual Help

Many Christians, however, are asking if the issue has become so
political that believers have lost sight of the spiritual dimension
to drug addiction and its possible cures.

If First United does set up an injection site sometime this year,
Burke says it would not have any explicitly spiritual component.
"Both myself and the Lutheran pastor who shares a space with us would
be around to talk to people, although it would not be part of the
safe-injection site per se. We would be just outside the door --
let's put it that way -- and ready to talk to people."

Barry Berger, director of Teen Challenge in Yarrow, thinks addicts
need much more direct spiritual help. He believes harm-reduction
programs are an "absolute waste" of money and resources, and says
churches need to focus on winning people to Christ. "When a person
has a walking relationship with Jesus Christ, he will not drug or
drink -- end of story," he says.

"We believe in having drug-free zones rather than free drug zones.
Harm reduction is an oxymoron when it comes to addiction . . . You
can't half-fix anything. You can't get half-saved, you can't get
half-healed.'

Berger says the house Teen Challenge operates in the Fraser Valley
does not deal "directly" with drug addiction, but he describes the
program there as a mix of military bootcamp and Bible college, where
residents are supervised around the clock for a full year. "We take
total control of their lives for the one year that they're here,"
says Berger.

Joyce Heron, director of Jacob's Well, a gathering place for
Christian workers and the people they serve at Main and Cordova, is
also skeptical about the merits of harm reduction. She says needle
exchanges make sense, because they prevent the spread of disease
without overly facilitating drug use; but she thinks injection sites
and similar techniques are ineffective.

Heron believes the only answer, in the end, is the power of God.
"When I was working in Hong Kong, we would see guys come off cold
turkey [who] weren't medicated for withdrawal. We would pray for them
24 hours a day while they were coming off -- and they would come off
with next to no symptoms. That's miraculous, there's no other
explanation for it.

"I would prefer that every single day of the week to harm reduction,
because I see people getting free. With safe-injection sites I don't
see freedom coming to people; I still see them having to struggle
with their bondage."

Don Cowie, a pastor at Tenth Avenue Alliance Church who has worked
with drug addicts, says there is a place for both abstinence-based
treatment programs and harm-reduction programs within the church --
because different addicts have different needs. "Harm reduction is
focused on the streets. It's not for everybody, it's for a specific
crowd. It's for the completely marginalized street user who has no
contacts."

Cowie says harm reduction techniques can work because they help to
build relationships with social outcasts. "I think that's exactly
what we should be doing as Christians -- identifying with the
marginalized," he says. "Harm reduction has shown that it can
drastically reduce overdose deaths -- and I think the church should
be passionate about keeping people alive."