Addiction Issues..local problem/local solutions

Substance Abuse: Local Problem, Local Solutions

The level of substance abuse found in your average inner city leaves the community scrambling for solutions. While a multitude of metropolitan areas deal with similar problems, none have constructed active mechanisms that effectively remedy the situation. With its multicultural demographics, plethora of well educated denizens and a focused motivation to overcome sociological difficulties, Victoria is ripe for a breakthrough in solving its addiction issues.

At present, persons creating mandates for this problem reccomend duplicating the harm-reduction policies practiced in the Netherlands. Because an active model exists to imitate, the temptation to do so is appealing. This would be a costly mistake. Worn down by years of watching their inner cities corroded by a growing population of IV drug users, rampant crime and a resentful, law-abiding public, European nations are now back-peddling support for harm reduction ideologies. The safe consumption/injection sites have failed to accomplish intended goals: HIV/HEP infection rates have not been reduced by a harm-reduction policy; in fact, the opposite has proven itself true: by animating a public infrastructure, a drug-consumption culture has been enabled. With established gathering points that are public and accessible, this community grows, along with their HIV/HEP rates. Imitating this failed policy will only recreate its mistakes.

A careful examination of the exact environment must be procured before any realistic, cohesive plan for substance-abuse management can be formulated. Idealistic pockets of self-interest cannot be expected to effectively construct a realistic model for reformation. Social activists have lost federal political will to expand their ideology of addiction maintenance, while the police and the court system are immobilized by the sheer magnitude of the problem. The failure of these two, opposing methods for dealing with this has resulted in a situation where neighborhoods, businesses and individuals are hijacked by a culture generating more and more addicts.

In order to pragmatically build a template for success, a disinterested committee to examine the situation requires formation. An objective group of local sociologists and psychologists can be mandated to brainstorm potential test projects designed to deal with our unique, local circumstances. With unconditional access to query law enforcement, politicians and social workers, this committee can create a stratagem without political bias or economic interest based on the particular conditions that exist in our unique environment. Using the reduction of substance-abuse issues as a gauge, projects can be tested for feasibility, and successful models may be chosen for implementation on a larger scale. If you want your house built, you don't ask your neighbour for advice; you sequester the knowledge and experience of a professional carpenter. You also get an objective, second opinion.

There is a growing resentment in communities fatigued by the effects of failed substance abuse policies. Intelligent, realistic actions to circumvent the corrosion of safety and community value are long overdue. With clear-headed optimism, and a committed, neutral committee focused on the problem, we may yet create the model for imitation when it comes to dealing with substance-abuse issues in our inner cities.