SUSTAINED POLICE, JUDICIAL ACTION NEEDED ON DRUGS

While national attention in the federal election has shifted to
drug-related violent crime, Vancouver continues to be in denial. We
are told that the gun-toting drug lords who strut in our streets are
really just a symbol of a health problem. The solution offered is the
failed four pillars approach, which has become one pillar loosely
defined as treatment. That encompasses anything from a clean needle
for illegal drugs to offering addicts a chance to chat with a counsellor.

Waiting lists are a health issue. The doctor shortage is a health
issue. Somebody stealing from your car or house to pay a criminal for
drugs is not a health issue, it's part of a chain of criminal
activity. It will not be solved by providing free ping pong centres.
It will not be solved by apologetic advertising campaigns from the
Vancouver police department, which are a basic admission that home
robberies are out of control. It will not be solved by distributing
the problem to other neighbourhoods.

A sustained police crackdown on dealers will eventually work if the
indifferent response of our judges is exposed by the media. They have
no other pressure for accountability. As for treatment, there are two
essential preconditions. First, the treatment regimen must be backed
with hard scientific data including statistically sound long-term
success rates. Second, it must be restricted to those who can prove
that they have made a serious effort at abstinence as well as a move
to a responsible lifestyle.

Victor Godin