To: Jennifer Field, Media/PR Lead for the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care From: Manraj Singh Athwal

Date: October 28, 2016

Subject: Revised Proposal for Advocating Safe Drug Use in the Downtown Eastside

Introduction

The abuse of hard drugs in Vancouver has been an issue that has been prevalent for many years now. To be more specific, the Downtown Eastside is one of the oldest and poorest neighbourhoods in the lower mainland and is an area with the highest amount of drug use. This area is generally defined as being bordered on the West by Cambie Street, on the East by Clark Drive, on the South by Prior Street, and on the North by the Waterfront. Downtown Eastside has one of the biggest homeless populations in the Greater Vancouver Area and is known for having a high occurrence of drug use, poverty, prostitution, and violence.

Statement of Problem

One of the biggest problems present in the Downtown Eastside is the use of drugs. The drugs which are being abused most heavily are heroin, crack cocaine, powdered cocaine, and crystal methamphetamine. As compared to the rest of the lower mainland, the Downtown Eastside has a very high incidence of HIV and Hepatitis C infection. Approximately 40% of homeless people in the Downtown Eastside suffer from a mental illness. This combined with the high rate of drug use leaves many people powerless. Once an addiction becomes severe enough, it isn’t always possible to stop someone from doing the drug.

Proposed Solution

One possible solution to the problem of drug abuse in the Downtown Eastside is to create a Community Based Adult Education (CBAE) program. The main objective would be to provide drug users with a safe means for the usage of drugs, without being involved in violence or deadly infections.

The first part would focus on harm reduction and combating unsafe drug use in the Downtown Eastside.By providing clean needles, along with cookers, alcohol pads, and sterile water, we will be able to provide the proper equipment so that users of intravenous drugs can more safely inject, and stop the potential spread of diseases. The reason this would be an important aspect of our CBAE program is because one of the main causes for spread of HIV and Hepatitis C is sharing of needles.

Part two of our program would focus more on harm reduction education and referrals to health service, addiction service, and other social support resources.This would mean we would tell the people coming in about all the other resources and programs in the Downtown Eastside that are designed to help drug users.

Scope

To assess the feasibility of developing a Community Based Adult Education Program for Downtown Eastside drug users, I plan to pursueseven areas of inquiry:

  1. Who are the people involved and what is their background?
  2. What percentage of the population in Downtown Eastside is homeless?
  3. What are the major factors that lead to drug abuse?
  4. How many people are in the Downtown Eastside that need assistance?
  5. What are the costs involved to provide people with harm reduction supplies and education?
  6. How can the program provide support services and resources?
  7. How many people would be interested in the program and the services it could provide?

Methods

My primary data sources will come from gathering information by going to the needle exchange clinics that exist in Vancouver. There are four clinics in Vancouver that I will be visiting:Three Bridges Community Health Centre, Downtown Community Health Centre,Pender Community Health Centre and Raven Song Community Health Centre. Each of these clinics provide unique care for their patients. I will round out my primary research with a telephone survey of the coordinators for the four clinics.

Secondary sources will include publications on the effectiveness of needle exchange clinics across North America, and the impact of providing harm reduction supplies on disease control.

My Qualifications

I volunteered at the Three Bridges Community Health Centre in downtown Vancouver for eleven months. I provided harm reduction supplies for safer injection and safer smoking, safe sex supplies, and harm reduction education. This clinic enlightened me and allowed me to become more involved in the issues revolving around drug use among low-income people in Vancouver.

Conclusion

Clearly, action is needed to reduce the high incidence of HIV and Hepatitis C Infection and the amount of drug abuse in the Downtown Eastside. By addressing the five areas of inquiry mentioned earlier, I can determine the feasibility of creating a Community Based Adult Education program that will provide harm reduction supplies, education, and services. With your approval I will begin research at once.

Enclosure: