Representatives from Switzerland, Germany, England, Oregon, Boston, Toronto and Vancouver met on November 20 in the heart of the downtown eastside in Oppenheimer Park to hammer out solutions to the burgeoning drug problems in Canada's poorest postal code. The conference was called Out of Harm's Way: An International Symposium on Solutions to Drugs, Crime and Addiction in the Inner City.

Moderated by the CBC's Daniel Richler, the day included lectures by international representatives from the fields of psychology and law, and policy makers from around the world. They came to Vancouver to discuss solutions that have worked in their communities, in the hopes of finding a solution to the drug problem here.

One of the speakers was Judge Harl Haas, the Circuit Court Judge for the State of Oregon in Multnomah County and the founder of the STOP program which stands for sanctions, treatment, opportunity, progress. The program gives a second chance to those afflicted with drug related problems. It requires that after an arrest the accused enroll in a comprehensive treatment program that involves visiting the judge on a regular basis to monitor progress.

After graduation from the program the accused is released. If the accused fails to complete the program they may enroll again if arrested a second time. Haas admits that the program is "better than what we have now but it's not ideal." His goal is to humanize the criminal system and the results have been positive. So far he has graduated 60 per cent of those enrolled.

Another presentation was made by Werner Schneider, the drug policy coordinator for Frankfurt, Germany. He successfully lobbied that city's government to create a local department of drug policy. He was appointed the director and has introduced programs like safe injection rooms. He says they have existed successfully for four years, and he suggested that Vancouver try the same thing.

Schnieder said Vancouver is similar to the way Frankfurt was ten years ago, with the the police unable to deal with the problem. He says that Frankfurt finally decided to change its drug policy because the drug war threatened the economic future of Frankfurt.

Schneider said that when law enforcement fails, people need to accept the existence of a drug culture, stop trying to crush it, and instead find ways to deal with the problems drugs bring. He advocated safe fixing sites and legalization of cannabis and said that those involved in the drug scene have a right to be heard.

Many citizens have concerns about opening safe fixing sites in Vancouver. Schnieder was adamant that we "can't reduce the spread of drug abuse by policy alone." He also said that by opening safe fixing sites, the attraction of a drug scene was greatly reduced in Frankfurt. "It's boring for kids to see addicts go to doctors to get their methadone," said Schneider.

Dr. Bruce Alexander, a professor of psychology at SFU was the chief investigator in a Vancouver study on patterns of cocaine use. Alexander believes that a cocaine maintenance program, with addicts being given their drugs by doctors in a safe environment, could work here.

According to Alexander, such an approach would deal with the "transition between junkie culture and mainstream culture... [this] can be very powerful for self respect and motivation." By re-humanizing drug users, Alexander encourages cooperation between users and focuses on a need for community.

"There is an urgency and we have to deal with it," he said Ironically, there were very few Canadian policy makers in the audience. Libby Davies, the MLA for the Vancouver Eastside was there for most of the day.

A representative from Health Canada also made an appearance and promised to bring issues raised during the day's event to Ottawa. Finally, B.C. Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh, made a brief appearance near the end of the day.

Dosanjh appeared on stage to thank people for coming. Richler then asked for questions from the audience.

After being asked why $7.2 million was poured into the police department instead of using it to fund detox centers, the Attorney General left the stage without an answer or explanation of why he was leaving. According to Kate Thompson, the Attorney General's media representative, Dosanjh left so abruptly because was only able to commit twenty minutes to the event.

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