DETOX FACILITY OFFERS A NEW START

Adding detox facilities to Vancouver's Insite safe-injection site
makes such good sense it should have happened long ago, but the
province still deserves credit for coming through on this important addition.

When the Onsite facility opens in mid-September, addicts will be able
go directly into detox in the same building where they go to inject drugs.

That's a huge step forward in facilitating treatment: Studies have
shown addicts are far less likely to consider a detox program if
there are wait times or travel involved.

One of the most common criticisms of safe-injection sites is that
they facilitate drug use, not recovery. The criticisms are unfounded;
research has shown that the centres help users stabilize their lives,
the first step toward decreased drug use.

But with this addition, Insite will become a centre for both harm
reduction and detox and treatment.

Unfortunately, federal Health Minister Tony Clement doesn't seem to
get the message.

Last week Clement -- who has the last word on whether Insite will
stay open into 2008 -- refused to talk about the facility's future,
saying there was uncertainty from researchers over its usefulness.

That's despite near-unanimous support from major medical journals,
which found health benefits, reduced crime and an improved rate of
entry to detox programs.

It's not clear where Clement is getting his information, but it looks
to be based much more on ideology than peer-reviewed research.

It's one thing to argue the ethical and moral questions behind Insite
and other safe-injection sites -- facilitating illegal behaviour, for
example, or even legitimizing it.

But it's wrong to claim, as Clement appears to be doing, that the
site does not produce the desired response. There's no doubt harm
reduction works. The only question is whether the minister of health
is listening.

We urge Clement to read the research, make an informed decision and
keep Insite open.

And then the federal government should move quickly to bring the
Insite/Onsite model to other communities -- starting with Victoria.