TORIES APPEAL DRUG-SITE RULING

Wants B.C. to Adopt Insite As Medical Facility

Jenny Kwan, the MLA for the riding in which Insite is located, is
disappointed the federal government looks set to appeal this week's
B.C.'s court ruling ordering the safe-injection facility to stay open.

"How many more people will have to die before Stephen Harper and the
Conservatives recognize that addiction is, in fact, a health-care
issue?" she said yesterday.

Kwan was reacting to federal Health Minister Tony Clement's
announcement that Ottawa will appeal the B.C. Supreme Court decision
that ruled in favour of the facility remaining open.

Clement said scientific evidence in support of Insite isn't strong
enough and that supervised-injection sites prolong addiction and
divert dollars from treatment programs.

"I can inform you today that I will be asking my colleague Rob
Nicholson, the Minister of Justice, to appeal [Justice Ian] Pitfield's
decision at the earliest possible opportunity," he said.

Pitfield's surprising decision said Canada's trafficking and
possession laws were unconstitutional when applied to addicts using
the facility and that it should be allowed to remain open under
current drug laws for a year, even without a federal exemption from
current drug laws.

That year should give the federal government time to rewrite its laws
to allow for medical use of illegal drugs if they are part of a
health-care program, he said.

But Clement had a different view.

"In my opinion, supervised injection is not medicine -- it does not
heal the person addicted to drugs," he said.

The health minister suggested that while research indicates Insite
saves one life a year, the $3 million it costs to operate could help
hundreds of people if spent on other programs, such as addiction
treatment centres.

Meanwhile, Kwan said the injection site saves lives, and keeps addicts
alive until they kick the habit.

"It helps addicts get access to healthcare, to detox services and
treatment."

Kwan brought in a private-member's bill in the legislature two weeks
ago, asking that Insite be made a medical facility, which would put it
under provincial jurisdiction.

Kwan plans to re-introduce the bill if there's a fall session and
she's hopeful it will get B.C. government support.

"I remain hopeful that the government will adopt this bill," she said.