Just ask the police and doctors on the front line - harm reduction doesn't work
MARGARET WENTE
The Globe and Mail
July 12, 2008
VANCOUVER -- Sergeant Mark Steinkampf knows every back alley in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. He greets the regulars by name and doesn't miss much. On street patrol one balmy evening, he spots a new face - a young, attractive woman on a bicycle. He motions her to stop.
"I can see that crack pipe in your bra there," he says. He pulls it out and dangles it in the air. "You're under arrest. Let me read you your rights." He drops the crack pipe and crushes it beneath his shoe.
The woman doesn't have drugs on her. If she's smart, she'll get out of here fast and he'll never see her again. If she's not, her prospects aren't good. A year from now, she'll likely be ravaged by drugs and infections, turning tricks to get the money for a fix. If she's very unlucky, she'll wind up like another girl, whose body was found by a dumpster, stuffed into a plastic bag like so much garbage.
Vancouver is famous for its innovative approaches to drug treatment. Twenty years ago, it launched a bold experiment to tackle the problems of the notorious Downtown Eastside. The guiding idea was harm reduction. If you couldn't cut off the drug supply or jail all the addicts, then at least you could reduce the secondary damage - HIV, hepatitis and the like - by giving people clean needles. You would surround them with medical and social services. Addiction, all agreed, was an illness, and addicts deserved compassion and respect.
MARGARET WENTE
The Globe and Mail
July 12, 2008
VANCOUVER -- Sergeant Mark Steinkampf knows every back alley in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. He greets the regulars by name and doesn't miss much. On street patrol one balmy evening, he spots a new face - a young, attractive woman on a bicycle. He motions her to stop.
"I can see that crack pipe in your bra there," he says. He pulls it out and dangles it in the air. "You're under arrest. Let me read you your rights." He drops the crack pipe and crushes it beneath his shoe.
The woman doesn't have drugs on her. If she's smart, she'll get out of here fast and he'll never see her again. If she's not, her prospects aren't good. A year from now, she'll likely be ravaged by drugs and infections, turning tricks to get the money for a fix. If she's very unlucky, she'll wind up like another girl, whose body was found by a dumpster, stuffed into a plastic bag like so much garbage.
Vancouver is famous for its innovative approaches to drug treatment. Twenty years ago, it launched a bold experiment to tackle the problems of the notorious Downtown Eastside. The guiding idea was harm reduction. If you couldn't cut off the drug supply or jail all the addicts, then at least you could reduce the secondary damage - HIV, hepatitis and the like - by giving people clean needles. You would surround them with medical and social services. Addiction, all agreed, was an illness, and addicts deserved compassion and respect.
Continue reading They're sick of watching people die - Margaret Wente's right wing view.
