HARPER URGED TO SAVE SAFE INJECTION SITE

Vancouver Addicts; Insite's Operating Permit Expires on June 30

OTTAWA - Supporters of Vancouver's supervised drug injection site
were in Ottawa yesterday asking 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 due 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 [Mr.] 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?" said 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 expert advisory panel said
the controversial site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside 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 treatment services.

Ms. Evans, joined at a news conference on Parliament Hill by members
of the Canadian Association for Nurses in AIDS Care (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 Ms. Evans said the facility has virtually everyone on side 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," Ms. Evans said.

Health Minister Tony Clement, the minister responsible for Insite,
was not available for an interview, but his office provided a
statement saying, "We are carefully reviewing the research.... No
decision has been made."

Mr. Clement's office did not provide a response to CANAC's criticism
that the government's anti-drug strategy, announced in 2007, failed
to include support for harm reduction.

The 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, CANAC 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."

Ottawa was put under pressure last month when the UN drug control
board warned Canada is flouting treaties aimed at curbing illegal
drugs. A report from the International Narcotics Control Board said
Insite contravenes a 1961 treaty signed by Canada that says countries
should pass laws ensuring drugs are used only for medical or
scientific purposes.