Vancouver’s Olympic drug problem
Image by Esparta via Flickr
Friday’s National Post included a story titled ‘The seductive lure of Mexico’s drug lords,’ which explained that
These are the riches of narco life: Partying in an outlandish mansion which has a caged panther and an albino tiger, employing a Look-What-I-Have attitude that extends to the Italian marble walls of the air-conditioned mausoleums where the chiefs rest. The traffickers have been known for their ostentatious style, sporting a designer cowboy look with bedazzled boots and gold neck chains.
[...]
Narcocultura, as it is know in Spanish, is everywhere. In popular music, fashion, business and movies. The narco patron saint and Robin Hood-type character, Jesus Malverde, is emblazoned on ball caps; his shrine in the home state of the ruthless Sinaloa cartel is adorned with fresh flowers.
And this lifestyle is affecting not only those in Mexico and the US, but the residents of suburban British Columbia.
Already this year in the Vancouver area – nicknamed the gang capital of Canada – there have been 30 shootings (with 12 fatalities) directly linked to the gang shakeout in Mexico and tracked by the Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs. Some 130 gangs operate in B.C. – Toronto Star, May 30, 2009
Thirty shootings in five months is high for a Canadian city, and that the relatively obscure Vancouver suburb of Port Coquitlam is regarded as “Canada’s murder capital” is frankly, shocking to many here.
The province became an important player in the Mexican cocaine marketplace in part by bartering its powerful home-grown marijuana, “B.C. Bud,” which helps fuel what is estimated to be a $6.3-billion-a-year industry. - L.A. Times, June 30, 2009
On its own, this would be an issue, but for the residents of Vancouver (and the Lower Mainland – the suburban region that surrounds it), who are hoping to host a successful winter Olympics in February, the increasing gang warfare poses a problem for the city’s image – one that already struggles with a visible drug issue. It’s an unexpected surprise for most visitors to Vancouver to discover that the city’s downtown core and Lower Eastside, specifically, is rife with homelessness, drug abuse, and prostitution. Luckily for the city’s tourist industry, the stunning ocean and mountain landscape offer a convenient visual escape from reality.
Image by Patrick Doheny via Flickr
Hastings Street in particular is a literal representation of the disparity that exists in Vancouver. West Hastings begins at a yacht quay and runs through Coal Harbour, home to million-dollar condominiums and trendy coffee shops. As it becomes East Hastings, the street morphs into the opposite of itself, and its intersection with Main St. is usually the site of a veritable open-air narcotics market. East Hastings – though it “normalizes” as it continues to the suburb of Burnaby – is synonymous in Canada with heroin addiction and poverty.
What will happen to both the gang warfare and the drug-laden Lower Eastside when the Olympics roll into town? It remains to be seen, but so far, it appears as though neither will change. The drug trade from Mexico will likely continue, and the City of Vancouver has yet to make significant gains in improving the Lower Eastside or the lives of its poorest residents, despite $1.4 Billion having been spent attempting to revitalize the area since 2000. It’s difficult to believe that any progress will be made by February.
This being the case, the world will either be exposed to Vancouver’s seedy underbelly, or will witness a well-orchestrated whitewashing by the City of Vancouver, and the provincial and federal governments. Sadly, most residents ought to expect the latter.
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Matas’ piece is good and detailed in some respects but doesn’t say why Vancouver is the focus of this problem. I don’t recall, from living in Toronto and Vancouver, specific city spots as bad as this one, which has been legendary for years. Although, in trendy Leslieville in Toronto, there’s a needle exchange clinic and some rough streets even blocks away from nice cafes and stores.
I think a lot of people ask that question: why here and why is it so bad? I’m not an expert, but I think:
Firstly, as a port city, Vancouver has always been vulnerable to the drug trade – especially heroin, due to it being Canada’s major Pacific port.
Secondly, the cost of living here – as I’m sure you know – is crazy. I’ve met a few people on the street who came here from the East to work, started using (due to availability, the drug culture, etc.), lost their job, and are now incapable of either getting home or getting clean. They steal (property theft downtown is insane), which forces up insurance, which makes the living expenses higher, and it goes on and on.
Thirdly, the climate might be a factor. Assuming one could get here, the winter on the street would be much better than say, Winnipeg.
But who knows, really. There’s a paranoid schizophrenic named Russel who hangs out near my building who’s addicted to crack. He’s been an addict for – he claims – 9 years, and was recently evicted from his Eastside hotel room. He came here from Victoria. Why? I don’t know. I asked him, but neither did he. Availability of drugs, I’d imagine – because it’s all here.
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