The new head of the Non-Partisan Association caucus plans to cast aside one of Mayor Sam Sullivan’s pet projects.
Coun. Peter Ladner said while he supports the mayor’s EcoDensity and Project Civil City initiatives he wants to get rid of Sullivan’s Chronic Addiction Substitution Treatment (CAST).
“I’m not in agreement with the fundamental premise that you can’t get people off drugs,” Ladner said yesterday, a day after winning the party’s mayoral nomination, defeating Sullivan by 80 votes.
“I think we have to aim for abstinence and treatment. If we have more resources that’s where it should go, not to different drugs.”
CAST, introduced by Sullivan in February last year, aimed at working with addicted people to change their habits from street drugs to legal, orally administered prescription medications.
While he’s against drug substitution treatment, Ladner said he supports Vancouver’s supervised injection site because of its health benefits and because addicts who use InSite are more likely to seek treatment.
However, he added, he is against additional supervised injection sites because he said the money is better spent on mental health and treating addiction.
–jeff.hodson@metronews.ca
