Downtown Vancouver BIA backs Mayor’s Substitution Treatment Plan

The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA) is endorsing in principle Mayor Sam Sullivan’s concept of a Substitution Treatment research project to help deal with some of Vancouver’s street crime issues.

“We’ve seen decreases in street crime, open drug use and aggressive panhandling downtown thanks to enhanced police beat patrols,” says DVBIA president Bill Rempel. “But the police can’t be everywhere all the time. We need to find long-term solutions that address the root causes of these issues. That’s why we applaud Mayor Sullivan’s goals to reduce these problems and his willingness to try innovative solutions to make it happen.”

Mayor endorses controversial addiction program

Byline: Sean Condon
Source: The WestEnder
Feb 01 2007

Substituting certain drugs for others can help recovery, advocates say

Sharon Message was finally able to break her debilitating, years-long crack cocaine habit in the 1990s. Unfortunately, she did so by substituting it with crystal meth. While she was happy to have kicked the former, the 45-year-old mother was now addicted to the latter, a harmful psychostimulant drug.