Vancouver Police Thwart Attempt to Help Addicts: Closing a Sidewalk Needle Exchange Shakes Coalition of Civic Agencies

A police raid on a Vancouver Downtown Eastside sidewalk needle exchange has effectively shut the service down. Police say they were just enforcing the law last Friday when they did undercover surveillance of two volunteers from the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), which runs a nighttime needle exchange at Main and Hastings under the auspices of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.

Inspector John McKay said his officers saw a female volunteer smoking crack at the table; both volunteers warning other people if uniformed police were in the area; and the male volunteer steering an undercover agent to a dealer. As a result, he sent in half a dozen officers to break up the scene and confiscate the tables and tent used for the exchange, which police said does not have the necessary city permit. No one was charged. But health officials, researchers, VANDU and the city staff say police seem to have reversed their cooperative approach of the past two years and have suddenly opted for a harder line. They are seen as frustrated with their lack of success in cleaning up Main and Hastings and increasingly philosophically opposed to harm reduction.

Tim Christie, the manager of clinical services for the Health Authority, said the police and other agencies agreed to give the experimental project a try -- a first for the city in allowing addicts to play a role in addiction programs. VANDU instituted a policy at the time that volunteers, who are admitted drug users, not use any drugs while working at the table. Vancouver Police Inspector Ken Frail said that police have no intention of shutting down the needle exchange, saying that if VANDU volunteers wanted to stand on the sidewalk to distribute needles until they get a city permit for their tent and tables, police would not intervene unless they were engaging in criminal activity.

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