RULING WITH WISDOM

Yesterday's B.C. Supreme Court ruling that Vancouver's supervised
injection site can stay open indefinitely is both good and bad news
for its supporters.

The decision is good news in that Insite has been given a new lease
on life; it is bad news in that it underscores just how determined
its opponents have been to close the site despite its benefits.

In his ruling, Judge Ian Pitfield reasoned that the facility
represents a form of health care, and that to hamstring that service
through the application of Canada's narcotics laws undermines the
very principle of harm prevention those laws were meant to support.

The logic is hard to debate. Over the past five years, a host of
peer-reviewed studies have demonstrated that Insite cuts down on
injections in public, boosts enrolment in treatment programs, helps
contain disease and neither increases drug use nor drives up crime.
Meanwhile, the application of narcotics laws over the past 80 years
has seen drug deaths soar and the narcotics trade balloon into a
multi-billion-dollar industry.

The fact the court sided with the newer approach suggests that wisdom
is at last prevailing. Unfortunately, that wisdom is not shared by
Canada's government. In the face of the mounting evidence, the
Conservatives have steadfastly refused to commit to long-term support
of the site, saying they are simply not convinced of its benefits.

A contested ruling in a higher court will be bad news for those who
want to see our drug problem solved.