The Four Pillars Strategy

The Four Pillars Drug Strategy is a framework created by the City of Vancouver in order to reduce drug related harm in Vancouver. It collates a group of over 60 local businesses, and governnment and non-government organizations. Here is a copy of the original strategy called Framework for Action (2001.)

The Four Pillars of the drug strategy are listed and described below (Source: http://vancouver.ca/fourpillars/fs_treatment.htm).

1) Prevention: strategies and interventions that help prevent harmful use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs. This pillar aims to reduce harm, delay onset of first substance abuse, reduce incidence, and improve public health, safety, and order.

2) Treatment: a range of interventions and support programs that encourage addicts to make healthier decisions about their lives. This pillar works to decrease preventable deaths and injuries, while improving social integration.

3) Harm Reduction: strategy to reduce the harm to individuals and communities from the sale and use of substances. This pillar focuses on the harm caused by using, rather than the act of using. This pillar focuses on achievable terms and recognizes that abstinence may not be a realistic goal.

4) Enforcement: strategy that recognizes the need for peace, public order, and safety in Vancouver. This pillar integrates all other pillars as policing alone is not the solution.

The framework provides various solutions that comply with each of the four pillars. It began its first implementation in the 1990s in Switzerland and Germany. Programs in these locations have resulted in a dramatic reduction in the number of users consuming on the street, as well as a reduction in overdose deaths and infections.

I will post more on this topic after our class meets with Donald MacPherson, the Drug Policy Coordinator of the Four Pillars Drug Strategy. Stay tuned!

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