LOOK CLOSELY AT EFFECTIVENESS OF SAFE INJECTION SITE

Time and again we have been told that the "experts" support a safe
drug consumption site for Victoria, and a majority of our city council
agrees.

But by my reading of the evidence from Vancouver's supervised
injection site (Insite) and elsewhere, the case for a safe injection
site in Victoria is not so clear.

The federal government-struck Expert Advisory Committee on Supervised
Injection Site Research tells us that Vancouver's Insite may prevent
about one overdose fatality per year, but the committee does not know
whether the same $3 million per year spent on outreach or drug
treatment courts would be more effective still. Surprisingly, it says
there is no direct evidence that Insite reduces rates of HIV
infection, and proving effectiveness one way or the other would
require more information about drug users' practices away from Insite.

We can't even be sure that Insite cuts down greatly on publicly
discarded syringes, because most injections do not take place there.

No one doubts that more resources for treatment and support are
needed. But Insite is not designed to cure users of addiction. Money
spent on a Victoria Insite would be money that is not going to
programs that could achieve long-term improvement for the addicted and
the mentally ill.

The health of our downtown should also be considered. The committee
report tells us Insite has not been shown to increase crime, but it
also tells us that typical injection drug users must steal close to
$350,000 in property a year to get the $35,000 cash that on average
they need to support their habit. Crime victims are as necessary to
Insite as are nurses and needles.

To support other social service and health agencies, Victoria's city
council has shown a willingness to fast-track zoning procedures,
donate parkland, earmark staff time, give city grants and property tax
relief and even delay public input until major decisions have been
made.

Yet many people tell me they don't think our present policies are
working.

They recognize that we need fundamental changes in Canada's approach
to homelessness, mental illness and drug use, but meanwhile they see a
declining quality of life in the central city that is driving away
shoppers, tourists and families.

Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca MP Keith Martin's proposal in this newspaper
for a European-style prescription narcotics program may or may not
work, but at least it offers a chance for users to participate in a
program that can and should be operated far from the drug dealers and
drug culture of the downtown.

Even Insite supporters do not claim it represents anything more than an
attempt to limit harm. Before asking Victorians where we should be putting
our own Insite (should the federal government grant council's request),
perhaps we should ask whether it is what we need.