MP NOT SUPPORTING EXEMPTION FOR INJECTION CLINIC

Parry Sound-Muskoka MP Tony Clement says there is not a
lot of sympathy in his riding for Vancouver's Insite facility to
receive an extended exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances
Act.

The only facility of its kind in North America, Insite is a facility
where public health workers provide drug addicts with clean needles as
well as support in case of an overdose. The injection site was
established by Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) in partnership with the
Portland Hotel Community Services Society in the fall of 2003 as a
pilot project in attempt to address the increasingly risky and open
drug scene in Vancouver's downtown eastside. The goal of the project
was to collect information on whether such a facility, with nurses and
counsellors on hand, could be an effective way to bring people off the
streets and into a place where they can access clean supplies and
general support. To operate legally, Health Canada granted VCH a
three-year operating exemption under Section 56 of the Controlled
Drugs and Substances Act, and has since provided $500,000 every year
to support it. The exemption has previously been temporarily extended
twice.

Last week, members of the Insite for Community Safety campaign made a
stop in Huntsville to engage in what they were calling a "peaceful
picket" at Clement's constituency office. They also visited
Bracebridge and Parry Sound in an attempt to raise awareness and
support on the importance of Insite receiving the exemption.

"It's their right to do," said Clement. "I would never bridge their
right to protest. There's not a lot of sympathy in my riding on their
position for the exemption. I think most people want to concentrate on
helping people get off drugs, not keeping people on them. First of
all, our government is concentrating on enforcing our laws to get rid
of the dealers, and secondly on treatment and prevention --- making
sure kids don't get on drugs in the first place. These people need our
help. If it was my son or daughter in that facility, I would want to
think the government was trying to help me get my son or daughter off
drugs. We have not made a decision on the exemption. We are actively
reviewing it and we'll be making a decision in the future."

While scientific data collected indicates that Insite is meeting
certain objectives including reducing public injections, reducing
overdose fatalities, reducing the transmission of blood-borne
infections like HIV and Hepatitis C and reducing injection-related
infections as well as improving public order, the federal government
has been remaining quiet as to whether the exemption will be granted
or not.

Leah Martin, a program worker with the Portland Hotel Community
Services Society, was at Clement's office with her partner, Joey Only,
and Mark Townsend, who works for the community group that runs Insite
in co-operation with the VCH. They had embarked on a cross-Canada tour
in U-Haul truck filled with information on the benefits of the Insite
facility as well as 868 crosses that represented overdose incidents at
the site as well as potential deaths.

"Our six-month term is closing at the end of June, so it's getting to
the last days for the federal government to let is know," said Martin.
"They're definitely holding out on us. Within our travels we've been
visiting members of parliament who are in opposition and who continue
to let their own ideologies and morals (affect their) decision. We're
not saying, 'Choose this over treatment or enforcement.' We're saying,
'We need this (injection site) just as much.'"

Calling Insite a harm-reduction approach, Martin stated that there is
a significant amount of scientific, factual evidence that the
injection site is reaching its goals. She said there have also been 25
peer-reviewed studies by different researchers in British Columbia
whose field of profession is to investigate different approaches to
health care, and all the studies have been positive.

"Tony Clement is calling for an evaluation of our research," she said.
"Tony and members of the federal government have compiled an expert
advisory committee and have spent up to $2 million to evaluate the
site and its research and results from those committees have been positive."

Clement did not comment on whether the results were in fact positive,
but stated, "Our government's position is that the results are mixed.
Only five per cent of drug users on the downtown eastside use the
site. At best, those that use the site only use it for 10 per cent of
their injections, so there's a whole lot of other conclusions in the
expert advisory's panel's reports, which are, at best, mixed."

Martin further explained that criminologist Neil Boyd for Simon Fraser
University was commissioned by the federal government to conduct a
cost-benefit analyses on the Insite facility. The study revealed that
for every $1 spent on Insite, taxpayers save $4 and that crime rates
were unaffected by the implementation of the facility. As well, Boyd
noted that there were some improvements in public order with respect
to decreased injection debris and decreased injections around the
site. He also found that the facility lowered the risk of contracting
diseases like HIV, which can be spread through needle-sharing; that
drug-users who visit Insite are more likely to enter treatment
programs; and that deaths due to drug overdoses have been averted
because staff are on hand to intervene.

In a letter written by BC minister George Abbott to Clement on May 6,
Abbott expressed his support for the exemption to allow the operation
of Insite as part of a supervised injection site scientific research
pilot project in Vancouver.

"Drug use effects us all in communities across Canada and it is a very
complex, social issue that needs many approaches," said Marin. "It's a
huge issue for Vancouver's inner city core."