SUBSTANCE ABUSE MEETINGS PLANNED

SUBSTANCE abuse should be treated as a medical issue, according to a North
Shore-based task force.

According to North Vancouver City Coun. Craig Keating, chairman of the
Substance Abuse Task Force, substance abuse should be addressed through
prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm reduction.

Keating was speaking at a meeting of the North Shore Congress, whose
members include representatives of all three North Shore municipalities,
Bowen Island, Lions Bay, Squamish and Tsleil Waututh Nations, the North
Shore Health Region, police, and local school districts.

The task force was formed in October, 2000, with the goal of developing a
co-ordinated community approach to dealing with substance abuse.

Said fellow task force member and West Vancouver Coun. Allan Williams, "The
program outlined is designed to bring North Shore communities relief from
the social consequences of the illicit use and abuse of alcohol, drugs, and
prescription medication."

A draft document, in development for the past year, acknowledges the
"controversial" nature of the issue and highlights four key areas that need
to be targeted. Planned preventative programs include raising awareness of
substance abuse; school-based education programs, and providing individual
and family support. These include detoxification, outpatient counselling
and residential treatment, as well as housing, ongoing medical care,
employment services, social programs, and life skills.

Late last year all three North Shore councils began discussing the
possibility of a drug rehabilitation centre linked to a permanent homeless
shelter in central Lonsdale. Harm reduction is based on the idea that
abstinence-based approaches are not always effective in dealing with
hard-core addiction and street-entrenched open drug scenes.

Harm reduction actions in the task force strategy could include a needle
exchange; condom distribution; and a community discussion on policy and
legislative change.

The strategy would see crime fighting efforts zero in on organized crime,
drug houses and drug dealers. Improved coordination with health services
and other agencies to link drug and alcohol users to available programs
throughout the region are also viewed as being key to effective enforcement.

According to the draft document, "Chronic diseases such as addiction are
neither a lifestyle choice nor a moral lapse. Addiction is a disease, not
unlike other chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure. We
know that addressing substance abuse must include compassion, respect, and
care for those who are its victim." The task force will hold a series of
public meetings over the next few months to garner support for its
strategies: Thursday, Oct. 25, 7 p.m. at West Vancouver Secondary;
Thursday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m. at Carson Graham Secondary; Thursday, Nov. 8, 7
p.m. at Windsor Secondary; Thursday, Nov. 15, 7 p.m. at Cates Hill Chapel
on Bowen Island; Tuesday, Nov. 20, 8 p.m. at Lions Bay Community Centre in
Lions Bay.