VANDU unites drug users, establishes platform

B.C/Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors is formed

n June 12-14, 2009, the

first-ever Pacific Summit

on Drug User Health took
place at the Delta Hotel on West
Hastings Street.
Hosted by the Vancouver

~ Area Network of Drug Users °

(VANDU), the summit brought together over 100 active drug
users from British Columbia and the Yukon, as well as non-user
volunteers and professionals from Vancouver Coastal Health
and Pivot, a non-profit legal advocacy organization located in
the downtown eastside. A goal of the meeting was to unite the
sentiments of former and current users.

“This is the first time the voice and intelligence of people
who use illegal drugs
dominated a process
that focused on actions,
rather than making a list
of wrongs done to them,
which I think was understood,” explained Ann Livingston,
executive director of VANDU.

Born of this three day summit is the B-C./Yukon
Association of Drug War Survivors. While the group is still
in the planning stage, this excerpt taken from their six-point
statement of unity indicates the purpose of the organization.

“We are a group of survivors of the drug war. We strive for
social justice and advocate for human rights for people who use

 

drugs. We work to eliminate the discrimination, criminalization,

stigmatization and isolation of people who use drugs in all
areas of social, economic and political life.”

The association is to be separated into the same regions
that exist already under the B.C. Health Care system: Fraser
Health, Vancouver Coastal Health, Interior Health, Northern
Health, and Vancouver Island Health Authority. Barry Shantz
and Jason Wilcox, both harm reduction advocates from
Abbotsford, are to be responsible for the Fraser Health region,
which encompasses the area from Burnaby to the Boston Bar.
Roughly 30 per cent of all drug users in B.C. fall under their
jurisdiction.

It is a vast undertaking, hindered by lack of funding,

“We are alarmed at the condition of drug user health in Surrey”

and policies such as the 2005 zoning bylaw amendment in
Abbotsford that bans “needle exchanges, safe-injection sites,
mobile dispensing vans, methadone treatment facilities and
other types or similar uses” and the “one for one” needle
exchange process as well as limited hours of operation for
existing exchange sites.

“We are alarmed at the condition of drug user health in
Surrey. Surrey’s big problem is the one for one system. You

bring one syringe in, you get one out. Well, if you need 10, and
you can only manage to bring in six on a Friday before closing,
said Shantz, member

you can’t make it through the weekend,”
of the Abbotsford Mental Health and Addictions Working
Group.

Shantz and Wilson (who has been HIV positive for 16
years) are currently looking
for meeting space and funding
for their regional portion of the

group.
The B.C./Yukon
Association of Drug War Survivors is the fourth user group to
be facilitated by the Vancouver Area Network of Drug User’s.
A registered non-profit, VANDU is funded by the Vancouver
Coastal Health Authority.
For more information, visit http://vandu.org.

 

Douglas College Wrap Up

By John Morrison Ill and Shaylee Pérez

Late Summer Orientation

Don’t forget that there are two more
opportunities to learn more about Douglas
College before the fall!

The Office for New Students is hosting Late
Summer Orientation, a chance to get your student
ID cards, purchase books, tour the college, meet
staff and faculty and get involved in clubs and
organizations on campus.

Pre-registration is required 24 hours in
advance. To do so, visit tinyurl.com/orientation-
reg

Late Summer Orientation takes place at the
David Lam Campus on August 8 and at the New
Westminster campus on August 15.

Nursing students raise “ae for
graduation —
Students of the psyehiatric nursing bachelor’ 8
degree program have been hard at work raising
money to fund their ~~ events in Mey of ©
2011. :

On July 25, they held a car wash in
Coquitlam and last March they hosted a bake -
sale, offering cupcakes, Rice Krispie ‘Squares and

_ other homemade goods. Both events were big
successes.

Anyone interested in-contributing or

: pserpessig ges stance Siac eee nae

- osu hots another Scher

- On Friday, July 10, the Douglas Students’ Union
_ hosted a free barbeque and dance party, complete

with DJ. The affair was Hawaiian themed and ran
from 6 p.m. to midnight. Liquor was available
for purchase with valid ID. Attendance was high,

- with security present to keep things running

smoothly.

 

Province cuts $16 million in student aid

Cuts especially affect women, the disabled

By John Morrison Ill, News Editor

espite promises to the contrary,
D:« provincial government has

decided to cut millions of dollars in
financial aid programs.

With the discontinuation of the
federally-backed Canadian Millennium
Scholarship Fund this year coupled with
rising unemployment levels, many students
are facing financial crisis.

“This is the worst possible time to be
cutting financial aid. Young workers are
usually the first to be laid off and we rely on
student aid programs to get through rough
patches,” stated Shamus Reid, chairperson
of Canadian Federation of Students —
British Columbia.

Six student financial aid programs
are to be eliminated with more placed
under review or delayed by the provincial
government. In total, the cuts reduce
funding for student aid from $116
million to. $100 million in B.C. No public
announcement has been made. Students will
be notified by letter or phone call.

at least $1.9 billion over three years, $589
million of it this fiscal year, the Vancouver

Sun reports.
The information became available The

 

Those “difficult decisions” will have
the greatest effect on nursing, health care,
and home-support programs, the disabled,

and those repaying their

Disability Benefits Program and loan
forgiveness in areas dominated by women,
such as early childhood education and
healthcare.

The Vancouver Sun quotes Margaret
Dhillon of the BC Nurses Union, who
called the funding cuts “short sighted” and
“counter-intuitive.”

“T don’t know why they would
even consider [cutting financial aid] in a
profession that is in such an acute shortage,”
said Dhillon. While $2.66 million in
bursaries for nursing students was available
last year, today that figure has shrunk to $1
million.

Among the programs being
discontinued are the Permanent Disability
Benefits Program, the Debt Reduction
Program (which had been distributed with
funds from the Canadian Millennium
Scholarship Program), the Loan Reduction
for Residential Care Aide and Home
Support Workers Programs, the Health
Care Bursary, and the Premier Excellence
Award. The Early Childhood Educator Loan
Assistance Program is under review, and the
Repayment Assistance Program is delayed.

to public only after internal government government “had “This is the worst possible time to be cutting student loans. : For Or. information, contact Student
communication was leaked to media on July tp) make some financial aid.” “The program cuts Aid B.C. or visit Douglas College's
22. me difficult decisions,” will disproportionately Financial Aid offices.
The nen from the provincial according to Moira Stilwell, advanced hurt people with a disability and women,”
government’s attempt to reduce costs by education minister suggested Reid, referring to the Permanent

4