Almighty Colin
09-16-2003, 02:29 PM
VANCOUVER -- With the kind of hype normally reserved for a Hollywood movie premiere, Vancouver has opened North America's first legal shooting gallery for drug addicts.
Politicians from every level joined police and civic activists yesterday morning at a tastefully restored storefront on Vancouver's seamy East Hastings Street. The turn-of-the century building has been transformed into a clinic where addicts can use illegal intravenous drugs in a medically supervised setting.
And it is quite a setting. Airy and modern, with individual cubicles discreetly divided for privacy, the clinic seems worlds away from the grimy streets just outside its front door.
Were it not for trays of needles and tourniquets at each seat, the spacious clinic, complete with snack bar and original artwork, could pass for an upscale salon or spa.
Yesterday's ceremony was organized to give the media a chance to see the clinic before it opens to addicts. Once drug users start coming in, public access will be cut off.
The clinic is a significant victory for Mayor Larry Campbell, who promised to reform Vancouver's drug policies in his mayoral campaign last year. After winning the election, he lobbied federal health officials and a reluctant local police department to support the pilot project.
Yesterday's opening was also a vindication for former mayor Philip Owen, whose party turned on him when he warmed to the plan.
Both men attended the opening.
Mr. Campbell, a former coroner, promised that the clinic, over time, will improve the lives of addicts in the troubled neighbourhood.
"You're not going to see a magical change in the Downtown Eastside," he told the crowd. "But over a period of time you will see a change. And over a period of time you will see health start to return."
He said the clinic alone will not solve the drug problems in the Downtown Eastside, but it gives medical staff a chance to talk to addicts one-on-one.
"We are never, ever going to cure drug addiction. Never. But what we can do is help those who have that addiction to stay alive and stay healthy until we can help them get into some sort of treatment," Mr. Campbell said.
The clinic will be open seven days a week, 18 hours a day. It will not provide drugs, but staff will show users how to inject an intravenous drug safely.
There's also a treatment room where wounds and infections can be tended to.
Drug addict Dean Wilson, who hounded local politicians for years to approve a clinic, warned guests not to be fooled by the inviting surroundings. The people who use the site, he said, will not be enjoying themselves. "This is really serious business down here," Mr. Wilson said. "This is not fun drug-taking. This is just a really shitty way to live, excuse my language."
And taking aim at critics who say the clinic condones drug use, Mr. Wilson said: "Nobody supports addiction. I've been an addict all my life and if anybody thinks it's a lifestyle choice, well, there's the exit sign."
The clinic is the only place in North America where addicts can use illicit narcotics without fear of arrest. Municipal, provincial and federal governments have all signed on to the pilot project, as has the Vancouver Police Department.
Politicians from every level joined police and civic activists yesterday morning at a tastefully restored storefront on Vancouver's seamy East Hastings Street. The turn-of-the century building has been transformed into a clinic where addicts can use illegal intravenous drugs in a medically supervised setting.
And it is quite a setting. Airy and modern, with individual cubicles discreetly divided for privacy, the clinic seems worlds away from the grimy streets just outside its front door.
Were it not for trays of needles and tourniquets at each seat, the spacious clinic, complete with snack bar and original artwork, could pass for an upscale salon or spa.
Yesterday's ceremony was organized to give the media a chance to see the clinic before it opens to addicts. Once drug users start coming in, public access will be cut off.
The clinic is a significant victory for Mayor Larry Campbell, who promised to reform Vancouver's drug policies in his mayoral campaign last year. After winning the election, he lobbied federal health officials and a reluctant local police department to support the pilot project.
Yesterday's opening was also a vindication for former mayor Philip Owen, whose party turned on him when he warmed to the plan.
Both men attended the opening.
Mr. Campbell, a former coroner, promised that the clinic, over time, will improve the lives of addicts in the troubled neighbourhood.
"You're not going to see a magical change in the Downtown Eastside," he told the crowd. "But over a period of time you will see a change. And over a period of time you will see health start to return."
He said the clinic alone will not solve the drug problems in the Downtown Eastside, but it gives medical staff a chance to talk to addicts one-on-one.
"We are never, ever going to cure drug addiction. Never. But what we can do is help those who have that addiction to stay alive and stay healthy until we can help them get into some sort of treatment," Mr. Campbell said.
The clinic will be open seven days a week, 18 hours a day. It will not provide drugs, but staff will show users how to inject an intravenous drug safely.
There's also a treatment room where wounds and infections can be tended to.
Drug addict Dean Wilson, who hounded local politicians for years to approve a clinic, warned guests not to be fooled by the inviting surroundings. The people who use the site, he said, will not be enjoying themselves. "This is really serious business down here," Mr. Wilson said. "This is not fun drug-taking. This is just a really shitty way to live, excuse my language."
And taking aim at critics who say the clinic condones drug use, Mr. Wilson said: "Nobody supports addiction. I've been an addict all my life and if anybody thinks it's a lifestyle choice, well, there's the exit sign."
The clinic is the only place in North America where addicts can use illicit narcotics without fear of arrest. Municipal, provincial and federal governments have all signed on to the pilot project, as has the Vancouver Police Department.