Addiction and the DTES : MYTHS

As outlined by Vancouver Costal Health and the Downtown Eastside Demographic Study of Single Room Occupancy (SRO) and Social Housing Tenants .

1. Addiction is self inflicted – addiction is an illness, and nobody chooses to have any illness including addiction.
2. People can stop using drugs if they really want to – it is very difficult for injection drug users to stop using without a great deal of assistance as drug use can alter a person’s neural and cognitive ability.
3. The same treatment works for all injection drug users – people have very different addictions, they respond to treatment differently, and think and behave differently. Bottom line: everyone is unique and different. For treatment to be most effective for an individual it must be tailored to them.
4. Once an individual completes treatment they are cured – returning to substance abuse after treatment is common and most people require support throughout their lives.
5. Relapse of an addict means they are a failure – addiction is an illness as stated before, so relapse is possible and common among users after treatment.
6. The majority of residents of the DTES are chronic drug users or addicts – surveys show that a greater percentage of DTES residents are below the poverty line than drug or substance abusers.
7. Injection drug use is a problem of the DTES and not a prevalent issue in Vancouver or BC – While the DTES does contain just over half the injection drug users in the city of Vancouver the other proportion lives throughout the city. It is not an isolated issue; addictiom affects people from all walks of life in all areas of the city and in communities throughout BC and Canada.
8. Insite does not facilitate treatment for addicts, but only provide a free place to use drugs – research has shown that Insite users are twice as likely to engage in addiction treatment than non-Insite users. This is in addition to the research that supports the claim that Insite decreases the transmission of disease caused by needle sharing and contamination and prevents deaths due to overdose.

Addiction and the DTES : FACTS

ADDICTION: as defined by Vancouver Coastal Health, who operates Insite supervised injection site, “addiction is a chronic, relapsing illness. It is defined as a compulsive physiological and psychological need for a habit-forming substance.”

For the purposes of this blog I will be focusing on the substance abuse of the most prevalent drugs in Vancouver’s DTES: injection drugs including heroine, cocaine, and morphine.

Addiction is not an isolated problem. It is not just a social problem in the DTES area.  Addiction affects people of all ages, ethnicity, cultures, income, and education level and in all types of communities. The concentration of substance abuse in Vancouver’s DTES thrusts it into the spotlight as a high use area and tends to result in a significant amount of coverage and profiling of the DTES.

Addicts are often viewed by others as inadequate or dangerous. These people also have been shown to be discriminated against which perpetuates the cycle of addiction by restricting them from employment, health care, housing, and social assistance that they need. This stigma imparted on addicts also has been shown to make them less likely to seek help or discuss their addiction problems, often further deepening them into substance abuse.