Kicking crack users out of their homes is not a good step forward, according to a student activist.

Punitive approaches to drug use don’t work, said Tara Lyons, executive director of Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

We just have to look to the States about how this war on drugs model doesn’t work,” said Lyons, a sociology grad student at Carleton University. “Here in Ottawa it feels like there’s an attack on drug users right now. There’s sort of mobilization to make people who are marginalized, to make their lives more difficult than they already are.”

The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act, a private member’s bill introduced by Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi recently, would make it easier for judges to evict tenants or close properties if illegal activities were taking place.

Currently, such evictions and closures can only take place via landlord and tenant boards and Criminal Code convictions of residents.

About 200 people attended CSSDP’s three-day conference over the weekend, which focused on drug education, harm reduction and creative solutions beyond the law-and-order models they say are failing.

The CSSDP began in March 2007 and now has chapters across the country, including two in Ottawa, with a third expected to open at Algonquin College.

For Lyons, having non-violent drug users go in and out of the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre, spending time in shelters and on the streets is bad enough. But the idea that those who manage to find housing can be evicted on the basis of drug use is unacceptable.

“It’s not about an us and them mentality,” Lyons said. “Drug users are human beings. Without viable, safe housing, how is anyone supposed to function? Instead of using OCDC as some sort of revolving door holding centre, let’s come up with viable and courageous solutions.”

The AIDS Committee of Ottawa and Prof. Chris Bruckert, a former sex worker, have also spoken out against SCAN, saying putting drug users out on the streets denies their right to housing and does nothing to improve public health.

CSSDP is particularly concerned about youth facing criminalization due to drug use. From honest drug education to rehabilitation centres and affordable housing, big changes are needed, Lyons said.

For more information, see www.CanadianDrugPolicy.org.