Vancouver’s mayor says he’ll meet with the city’s police chief after officers raided a program in the city's Downtown Eastside that provides marijuana as an alternative to harder, more lethal drugs.
Mayor Gregor Robertson said he’d heard from many Vancouverites about the controversial raid and seizure of cannabis products from the “High Hopes” program that operated from a booth in the Hastings Street Market on Friday.
“I will be meeting with the chief early this week,” Robertson said after a news conference Monday morning. “I heard concerns from the community.”
The mayor said he believes the Vancouver Police Department is supportive of efforts to stop the deaths in the ongoing overdose crisis, with some four people dying a day in B.C. from contaminated opiates, often fentanyl.
“I think they had concerns with what drugs were freely available to anybody who walked by,” Robertson said. “They weighed in with that. We need to hear all sides of the story before we pass any judgment.”
The “High Hopes” program has been operating for about a year, offering marijuana to about 100 people who used it to deal with cravings for heroin.
Before the raid, organizer Sarah Blyth told CTV News that some 25 people have quit heroin, and as many as 50 have reduced their heroin use as a result of the program.
There have been other encouraging results as well: M-J Milloy of the B.C. Centre for Substance Use said that people who use marijuana were 20 per cent more likely to have continued opioid substitution treatment.
“There is clear preliminary evidence that cannabis is an important harm-reduction strategy,” Milloy said.
But not having the marijuana at hand in the overdose prevention site has been difficult for some users, said Melanie Pratt, a volunteer.
“It’s put a lot of people into a tailspin. They’re on the edge and this could push them either way. There are three people I’m really worried about,” she said.
Premier John Horgan told reporters he didn’t believe that the VPD intended to disrupt a health care initiative.
“I don’t believe their intention was to do that,” he said, adding that he didn’t plan to interfere with law enforcement. “We’re going to work closely with law enforcement to meet our objectives so that fewer people are dying."
On Monday, a Vancouver police spokesperson highlighted that more than just marijuana was seized.
“The product, including two plastic bottles of unknown powder, was seized and tagged at the VPD property office for destruction," they said.
Blyth told CTV News that powder is likely kratom, which is a tree in the coffee family, which has some calming effects. It’s not illegal to possess but Health Canada restricts its sale, and has also raided shops in Edmonton for selling it.
“I’m concerned that’s the way that police are approaching this. It’s a health crisis and people are dying every day. This is a way that saves people’s lives. People will die because of that. It’s a terrible approach on their part,” she said.
By the end of July, 878 people in B.C. had died of an illicit drug overdose, according to the BC Coroners Service.
Mayoral candidate Hector Bremner told CTV News he “doesn’t want to second-guess the police.”
“As legislators, we have to make sure we’re advocating for effective policy,” he said. “We can’t politically interfere with the police, and if the police say we need better tools to stop deaths we should be there for them as well.”
Mayoral candidate Ken Sim of the NPA said in a statement, “We are entering a new era of marijuana legalization and it continues to be a complex issue. We need to respect the laws, while ensuring harm-reduction services remain available and are supported by much-needed treatment services.”
Independent candidate Kennedy Stewart said in a statement, “I know that community members are working their guts out to prevent overdoses and I thank them for their overwhelming commitment to the Downtown Eastside community. I also know the VPD’s leadership believes in harm-reduction – as do I. We are in the midst of a staggering opioid crisis, and we will need people and agencies from across the spectrum to work together to support those living with addiction and to keep people alive.”
