DRUGS: JESUS AND THE 'FOUR PILLAR' APPROACH

Following is a response to an interview with Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen,
which was featured in the January issue of BCCN.

FIRSTLY, I am very grateful for a mayor who attends church, and who cares
enough about the citizens he governs to walk the streets of East Vancouver,
as Jesus might do, "seeking to help the poor and those in need."

Mayor Owen says, "You can't just go handing out free cocaine or heroin to
everybody; you can't ignore it [the drug problem], so you've got to manage it."

Donald MacPherson, Vancouver's drug policy coordinator, has formulated A
Framework for Action, which is about managing people and drug problems.

No management plan, not even one with broad support, can change a person's
heart. Only Jesus can take away our guilt and make it possible for us to
choose life. Jesus is about changing people from the inside through
forgiveness and new life.

The drug problem in Vancouver, and in all of our communities, is revealing
our need for God. This is the time for those of us who are called
Christians to make a difference in our communities, by being the hands and
the feet of Jesus -- and serving those in need as Jesus would do. I believe
we are being called to get involved with A Framework for Action in order to
bring the living Lord Jesus into the 'Four Pillar' approach.

Some of us should become knowledgeable and involved with Pillar One --
Prevention. We can affect our community for good with truth. Focus on the
Family has a new program called 'How To Drug Proof Your Kids.' This is a
good place to start. But be aware: all prevention programs have an
underlying philosophy or belief system.

We should also become more involved in Treatment -- Pillar Two. Christians
continue to make a major contribution towards treatment and recovery in
virtually every community. Much more can be done. The 'drug problem' is
also a 'God opportunity.'

Donald MacPherson writes in A Framework for Action that "The environment
has changed and the same old approaches do not, and will not work.". During
my 27 years in addictions treatment, seeing more than 1,000
brothers/clients in recovery at Wagner Hills Farm, I have seen that only
Jesus can set a person truly free from addictions -- and he is freeing more
people today than ever before.

Pillar Three is titled Enforcement. Enforcement has been and remains the
normal mandate of government and the rule of law. Mayor Owen recognizes the
limitations of enforcement in changing people's lives. Generally, I am
supportive of the six action plans for enforcement in A Framework for
Action. We can do much to support police and those in authority by praying
for them and by telling them we support them.

Transformation and renewal is possible and I believe it is happening and
will happen more in Greater Vancouver. The examples of transformation in
various communities are testimony to the fact that God is still answering
prayer today.

What about Pillar Four, the controversial Harm Reduction section? Donald
MacPherson says quite a number of things in this section that I can't agree
with. For example: "Abstinence-based strategies are often impractical and
ineffective in dealing with the street-entrenched drug scene. . . . Harm
reduction is a key component of national and provincial drug strategies. .
. . Abstinence is an unrealistic goal for many chronic drug users and can
lead to greater harm."

I do agree with MacPherson when he says, "The primary purpose of
low-threshold harm reduction programs is to continually build relationships
with those on the margins." I believe Jesus calls us to build relationships
with drug users, the poor and those in need.

I believe it is possible to build relationships by talking with, walking
with, eating with, praying with, living with, laughing with and helping
those on the margins. My compassion and my conscience have not released me
to give a user money, or a free clean needle, or to offer him methadone, in
an effort to build a relationship.

I believe we cross a clear barrier when we partially condone a harmful
activity or provide a slightly less harmful drug (but still harmful and
dangerous, as a recent methadone overdose confirms) in place of heroin.

A person without moral absolutes will have a hard time seeing the dangers
of this approach, especially if money can be saved and health costs and
even deaths appear to go down.

In spite of God's power, he didn't create robots when he made people. He
left us with the ability to choose him and life -- or to reject him,
thereby choosing death.

Harm reduction, in my opinion, begins to undermine the basic dignity of
every human being, because it can encourage them not to take responsibility
for their actions.