WAITING FOR RESULTS FROM FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION

It's been one year since the City of Vancouver implemented their Framework
for Action program to combat drugs in the Downtown Eastside. All of these
factors of the program are made possible by taxpayer's money. Yet how are
taxpaying citizens benefiting from these changes? The streets are not
safer. Before the introduction of the program, drug activity was at least
concentrated in one area. However, all this added supervision by police and
private security firms has forced drug dealers and addicts to relocate. Now
they have radiated to other nearby neighborhoods, which surely affects
businesses in those areas.

And while new detox facilities have the intent of sobering up drug addicts,
research has shown generally low participation levels in such programs by
those who truly need it. So although programs, such as methadone
maintenance treatments, are effective in reducing narcotics usage, studies
have shown that such programs do not necessarily have the high success
rates predicted by politicians. A year has passed since the implementation
of the Framework for Action program, and Vancouverites are still waiting
for results.

Jolene Kinoshita

North Vancouver