INSITE PROVEN EFFECTIVE

Late Friday afternoon, the federal government released the Final
Report of the Expert Advisory Committee on Supervised Injection Site
Research.

This hand-picked committee's report essentially confirms the findings
of 24 peer-reviewed papers by researchers from the B.C. Centre for
Excellence in HIV AIDS.

These findings show that Insite has had no measurable negative impacts
on the community around it, and has had significant benefits for the
attendees -- in particular helping them access addictions treatments.

The committee dismissed concerns that Insite "sends the wrong message"
to non-users by suggesting that drug use can be safe.

Rather, the committee proposed that "publicity surrounding SISs
(supervised injection sites) serves mainly to draw attention to the
dangers of addiction and the miseries of addicts."

The report clearly shows Insite performs an important function in
addressing the complex problems faced by communities and individuals
suffering from addiction and mental illness.

Federal Health Minister Tony Clement should now stop the pretext of
looking for more research.

He should put any ideological concerns behind him and allow B.C. to
provide evidence-based and demonstrably-effective health services to
those who can benefit from them, wherever they may happen to be.

Perry Kendall,

Provincial Health Officer