Dr. Anke Stallwitz, a professor of social and community psychology from the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Freiburg in Germany, came to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in March to conduct a study of violence in drug-dealing situations. The long-time international drug and addictions researcher was surprised by the violent “extreme sanctions” being used by some higher-level dealers when debts weren’t settled. Dozens of interviews and meetings with groups at the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users facility uncovered unique phenomena within the city’s notorious open-drug market.
A chaotic dealing hierarchy brings great suffering
Stallwitz said she found the violence most prevalent in the East 100-block of Hastings Street, between Columbia and Main, where the dealing hierarchy is disorganized and “sanctions” aren’t tied to clearly defined rules. On this block, anyone can sell drugs, unlike other blocks which are tightly controlled by high-level dealers and organizations. “If a dealer is caught selling on a block or hotel run by someone else, they’ll be given a lecture,” she said. “But if they continue, there’s a good chance they’ll get beaten up.” Stallwitz said interviewees frequently cited organization and trust between dealers as key factors in safety. “If these are big, then the level of violence can be kept very low,” she said.
Undocumented drug seizures lead to “massive violence”
When police confiscate a street-level dealer’s drugs without providing a record of the seizure, higher-level dealers will often look to settle the debt for the lost product through “massive violence,” Stallwitz said. “They say, ‘Well, you just smoked it all, you injected it, you stole it,'” she said. Vancouver Police Const. Brian Montague said arrestees are given a notice to appear in court, but there are cases where police will find drugs near a person but not have enough evidence linking them to the drugs for a charge to hold up in court. In such cases, officers will seize the drugs without making an arrest and if someones seeks proof of that, they can ask the officer for a business card with a file number, he said.
Hope for addicted dealers who are desperate to end the brutality
Stallwitz worked with VANDU groups to develop a “socially-responsible code of conduct” for dealers and buyers. They plan to make pamphlets to disperse in the area that will promote reflection on violent behaviour and outline clear non-violent sanctions for when rules are overstepped. “There are a lot of people who say, ‘Oh, you’ll always have violence in dealing, you can’t change it,'” Stallwitz said. “But I’ve been in quite a number of different countries and looked at very different scenes, and I’ve seen very different levels of violence.” VANDU board member Hugh Lampkin said a newly formed “Safer Neighbourhood Action Team” will meet regularly to work on mitigating violence in the drug scene.
neagland@postmedia.com
