Dear Mayor Sullivan and Vancouver City Councillors:
NIABY.com (Not in Anyone's Backyard) knows that City Hall is planning up to six, and maybe even more large, transitional apartment buildings for drug addicts. Fraser and 41st Ave is the first site. Dunbar and 16th Ave could be second, followed by other neighbourhoods. This isn't about a single neighbourhood. Niaby.com is NOT convinced that the Fraser St. drug addict apartments and others that will be built after it "perform a service for the community at large" other than to clean up the Downtown Eastside in time for the Olympics.
Vancouver residents want the Mayor and Council to be:
Proof is needed for claims of treatment effectiveness. Specifically the Fraser St. models need to be presented to the public with measurements that mean something - sustained abstinence greater than 6 months, competitive employment, and relapse rates. Just to say "It's treatment" is not good enough. Is the treatment effective? Show effectiveness data. Prove that with this housing communities won’t see increased crime rates, drug dealing, police incidents, and used, dirty needles and other drug paraphernalia in parks and resident's yards. Remember drug dealers make house calls so moving addicts out of the Downtown Eastside won't disable the supply.
It's irresponsible to spend taxpayers hard-earned money on something that is at best experimental and unproven. Show Vancouver residents that the Fraser St. model is effective, safe and proven. That's taking responsibility for your policy of spreading addict apartment buildings all over Vancouver.
Stop delaying accountability by saying that you are waiting for City Hall social planning reports. These reports are useless because they do not address any meaningful measurements (outcomes) that will make a difference. Direct City Hall bureaucrats to include outcome measurements in their reports with references. Don't accept reports that have statements that are not referenced, are not specifically about the Fraser St. model and are not backed up with evidence of effectiveness. Vague philosophical policy statements repeatedly endlessly in voluminous tombs called "reports" favoured by City Hall planners are not evidence of effectiveness.
The majority of patients and programs can agree that stopping substance use, obtaining and keeping a job and eliminating crime are legitimate achievable goals. This means that treatment providers should be willing to accept responsibility and accountability for achieving and maintaining these goals in their patients - at least during active treatment. Indeed, if patient and programs cannot be expected to achieve these goals even during drug treatment, it is reasonable to question the value of treatment for either the patient (addict) or society." 1
NIABY.com, like the authors in the medical journal Addiction, are asking for proof that a drug policy, in this case City Hall's plans to spread drug addicts in apartment buildings all over Vancouver is effective, and proven. Niaby.com has not received or seen any quality evidence of effectiveness of Fraser St. apartments for drug addicts. This is why we are fighting City Hall's plans to disperse the Downtown Eastside to the rest of the city for 2010.
Niaby.com welcomes your comments and opinions.
Published May 28, 2006.