SAFE-INJECTION SUPPORTERS ARGUE FOR PROGRAM IN COURT

VANCOUVER -- Two groups that help drug addicts were in court yesterday
in a bid to keep Vancouver's controversial safe-injection site open.

The Portland Hotel Society, which helps run the program called Insite,
and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users want the B.C. Supreme
Court to stop the site from closing when the federal government's
permit expires at the end of June.

Among their legal arguments are that heroin and cocaine addicts should
not be subject to Canada's anti-drug laws while they're under
treatment on the site. They also say that the B.C. government, rather
than the Canadian government, should have jurisdiction over the
operation of the program.

The federal government has twice extended Canada's only safe-injection
program, which began as a pilot project in 2003, but has expressed
concerns about its continuance.

John Hunter, a lawyer for the federal government, yesterday applied to
have a full trial on the issues, with testimony from medical experts,
rather than a summary trial, where lawyers argue on the basis of
affidavits filed.

He said there was serious debate on the benefits of the program, which
its adherents claim saves lives.

Hunter was opposed by the two groups, and the judge ruled he will hear
the case as a summary trial.

Monique Pongracic-Speier, a lawyer for the society, began her
arguments by describing two addicts who claim they've benefited
greatly from Insite.

The hearing continues today.