CANADIANS GIVE INSITE THUMBS-UP

Over 50 Per Cent Polled Say Heroin Injection Centre Should Stay Open

A majority of Canadians say it's "a good thing" heroin addicts in
Vancouver have a supervised, legal place to shoot up, according to
results from a poll conducted this week for Canwest News Service and
Global National.

An Ipsos Reid poll released Friday suggests 55 per cent of Canadians
feel the East Hastings centre Insite is "a good thing" and 54 per
cent thought it should remain exempt from the country's drug laws,
despite a Conservative government appeal to shut it down.

"I think this actually offers the government an opportunity to decide
whether it wants to present itself as a law-and-order government,
versus a compassionate, sensitive government," said John Wright,
Ipsos Reid senior vice-president.

"It's a tricky issue for them, it's not an overwhelming majority (of
Canadian support) and it is fraught with contradictions."

Insite has been a sore point for politicians and health experts since
it opened in 2003, and debates have flared over whether the centre is
medically legitimate or simply a safe house for criminal behaviour.

Insite provides a supervised environment and clean needles for heroin
and other illegal drug addicts.

Participants were asked whether they thought the supervised injection
centre, which health experts argue saves lives and prevents overdoses
and the spread of disease, is a "good thing," a "bad thing," or if
they weren't sure. Forty per cent said they felt Insite was "bad."
Five per cent didn't know or refused to answer.

The poll was conducted June 3-5, one week after a B.C. Supreme Court
judge extended the site's exemption from drug laws and said it could
remain open indefinitely.

Health Minister Tony Clement says the government will appeal the
decision, saying the issue is not a medical one and the science
supporting safe injections is mixed.

Another question participants answered was whether they thought
Insite should be expanded to other major cities across the country.
Half (50 per cent) said "yes." Another 46 per cent said "no" and five
per cent didn't know or refused to answer.

"There are many people saying 'I'm fine with this taking place, but
I'm not fine with it in my own backyard,'" said Wright.

Quebecers were the most likely to say safe injection is "good," with
66 per cent of the province agreeing, followed by Alberta (58 per
cent), Atlantic Canada (55 per cent), British Columbia (54 per cent),
Ontario (49 per cent) and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (45 per cent).

The poll also found a split between rural and urban populations.
Those in urban settings (57 per cent) have a higher tendency than
those in rural settings (50 per cent) to agree Insite is a "good thing."

"Urban dwellers are more likely to accept this, as probably part of a
visible circumstance," Wright said. "(Drug use) is less in evidence
in some communities, so they treat it as a law-and-order issue rather
than a compassion-and-health issue."

The poll, which surveyed 1,000 adults by telephone, is considered
accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The safe-injection issue also surfaced in other parts of the country
this week when Quebec Health Minister Phillippe Couillard said
Wednesday his government is considering opening similar sites in Quebec.