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Harm Reduction recommended in Vancouver in 1952
Submitted by jacob on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 09:28
The Tyee has a great article on the origins of Harm Reduction on their website. It turns out harm reduction was first proposed, and opposed by the federal government, in 1952.
As they revealed last week on the Tyee, the drug problem in the Downtown Eastside(DTES) has a very long history, one that goes well past the 1950s. During the 1950s, the price for heroin was high and thus organized crime was reaping massive economic benefits. Addicts were forced to steal full time to support their ever more expensive habits, while prohibition associated violence increased despite drug use decreasing. By 1952 though, there were still more heroin addicts in Vancouver than all of Britain and NGOs in the area were looking for a solution.
The precursor to the United Way studied the problem and concluded that prohibition was indeed the cause of the violence and crime in the DTES. They reasoned that addicts only stole to support their drug habits, and that it was the increase in the price of drugs that caused the increase in crime.
The report called for a Heroin maintenance clinic to be set up, to provide addicts with free heroin and access to medical care, while at the same time cracking down on those who trafficked in heroin. The Vancouver Sun and the Province newspapers published the report along with editorials endorsing it's recommendations.
The federal government of the day sent out a "scientist" to "study" the problem. This individual concluded, without scientific study, that drug use and crime was the result of personal shortcomings on the part of the addicted individual; they were morally inferior. The federal government lobbied against any kind of maintenance program, and pressured groups in Vancouver not to advocate for any such programs. The federal government advocated a strict enforcement strategy across the country, cantered in Vancouver.
The provincial government took a middle position, forcing the federal government to accept the building of a drug treatment jail, which opened 14 years later, in 1966. The treatment jail was unsuccessful as sentences required for treatment at the jail were too long (2 years minimum) and addicts relapsed soon after resuming their old lives.
56 years after the federal government began a crackdown in the DTES, what changed? Prohibition related crime increased, addiction increased, HIV/AIDS was given a place to take hold all while billions was spent on enforcement and billions in profit was reaped by organized crime.
In 1952 Vancouver recognized the problems in the Downtown Eastside required harm reduction and scientific solutions, that enforcement alone could not solve Vancouver's problems. In 1952, the federal government ignored the evidence and sent in the police.
In 2008 Vancouver still recognized the problems in the Downtown Eastside require harm reduction and scientific solutions, that enforcement alone can not solve Vancouver's problems. In 2008, the federal government ignores the evidence and wants to send in the police.
The NAOMI program, a pilot heroin maintenance program, in Vancouver has not completed it's final report, but the results to date have been promising. First off, users no longer have to commit crime to feed their habit, with evidence that individuals had stopped prostituting themselves, stopped engaging in property crime, some have even found employment. Overall, the program has an 85% retention rate for treatment, one of the highest for any treatment program in Canada.
Similar maintenance programs have been conducted in Europe for years, with similar levels of success. By allowing addicts access to clean, free heroin, the program enables addicts to spend their time working to get off of drugs rather than obsessively looking for a way to get their next "hit".
The BC Marijuana Party calls for the immediate end to the criminal enforcement of drug laws on users and addicts in British Columbia, with the establishment of maintenance programs in Vancouver, Surrey, Abbotsford, Victoria, Prince George, Kelowna, Kamloops, Vernon, and any other city which could benefit from such a program.
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