Where Should Public Health End and Criminal Justice Begin

Today,Feb,13'08 a conference held at the UBC campus at Robson square asked that question and the answer was ; only as a last resort and countering violence exclusively. Harm reduction was the order of the day and a lack of both money and political will were cited as reasons for the pathetic response to the need for treatment that is both feasible and of a duration that would give success a chance. The lack of a coherent response to mental illness was another major topic on an agenda that many felt was too long in coming.The US was mentioned as being a huge roadblock standing in the way of real change in drug policy but others pointed out that there had been trials already that were aimed at finding Vancouver solutions to Vancouver problems.The police rep. spoke of the reactionary policing that was taking place and that the focus on demand side actions were not working.Everyone agreed that education of the young ,the younger the better,was essential.The mood was very positive and with the exception of a few people with personal agendas,fairly cohesive.Larry Campbell ignored a personal attack from a speaker that said his piece and then left quickly.He made his usual plea for legal marijuana and taxing the hell out of it.This was a harm reduction,decriminalization crowd with few exceptions and even those that had other ideas were in accord as to the need for a change in direction.Next week deals with the message to youth.Any ideas would be appreciated and I will put them in front of the meeting if they make sense.