PM BEGGED TO EXTEND B.C. DRUG INJECTION PROGRAM

Supporters of Facility Urge Harper to Resist Pressure From UN Agency
That Criticized Canada for the Project

Supporters of Vancouver's supervised drug injection site were in
Ottawa yesterday, "begging" Prime Minister Stephen Harper to put
politics aside and keep Insite open.

The facility is legally allowed to operate because the federal
government granted it an exemption from narcotics laws.

That exemption is to expire on June 30 and the government has not
indicated whether the facility will be allowed to continue operating.

"At this juncture, we believe Harper has a clear decision to make -
is he going to go the route of ideology or is he going to go the
route of good, solid, scientifically supported public health policy?"
asked Liz Evans, who runs Insite in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health.

"We believe that is his decision that he has to make today, to take
it out of the realm of politics and put it in the realm of public
health, which is firmly where it belongs."

A recent report by a government-appointed advisory panel said the
controversial site in Vancouver's downtown eastside district doesn't
affect crime rates, saves at least one life a year from overdose,
provides nursing services to users, is generally supported by the
public and has increased the use of detoxification and treatment services.

Evans, joined at a press conference on Parliament Hill by members of
the Canadian Association for Nurses in AIDS Care, known as CANAC,
said enough research and studies have been done to prove that harm
reduction strategies, such as safe injection sites, are effective and
worthwhile.

Insite has its critics, including the Canadian Police Association,
but Evans says the facility has virtually everyone onside and just
needs the approval, not even funding, from the federal government.

"Please listen to the nurses that are here today and do the right
thing. We are begging the prime minister to make a decision that's
right for the people of British Columbia and for Canada," Evans said.

Health Minister Tony Clement, the federal minister responsible for
Insite, was not available for comment, but his office provided a
statement saying: "We are carefully reviewing the research. Insite's
exemption expires June 30. No decision has been made."

Clement's office did not provide a response to CANAC's criticism that
the federal government's National Anti-Drug Strategy, announced last
fall, failed to include support for harm reduction programs.

The government's three-pronged anti-drug plan involves preventing
illegal drug use, treating addicts and going after drug producers and
dealers, but harm reduction is the missing link among those
approaches, CANAC said.

"People who use drugs need to be given options and those options
include harm reduction, and they also include treatment," said Greg
Riehl, the group's president.

"If we don't have harm reduction, if we don't have Insite, those
people will be dead. Dead people cannot enter into treatment."

The federal government was put under pressure last month when the
United Nations drug control board warned that Canada is flouting
international treaties aimed at curbing illegal drug use.

A report from the International Narcotics Control Board said Insite
contravenes a 1961 treaty signed by Canada that says countries should
pass laws ensuring that drugs are used only for medical or scientific purposes.

But Insite argued that the board itself called for a legal opinion
from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that found "harm
reduction" programs did not violate the organization's treaties.