HARPER POURS COLD WATER ON INJECTION-SITE PLANS

Prime Minister Stephen Harper dismissed almost any chance of
supervised injection sites being set up in Victoria during a press
conference yesterday.

"We have no plans at the moment to expand them," Harper told the
Times Colonist during a media scrum at CFB Esquimalt.

The City of Victoria is preparing to submit an application to Health
Canada by December for a three-year research project that would see
the creation of three sites where supervised addicts could shoot up,
and possibly also smoke or ingest drugs.

Greater Victoria is home to an estimated 2,000 injection-drug users.
The aim of supervised injection sites is to stop overdose deaths and
the spread of HIV and hepatitis C.

The sites are also intended to take mostly homeless addicts off the
streets into a place where they can be medically treated or referred
to other health, treatment and social services.

But for Victoria's application to be approved, the federal government
must grant an exemption from the Controlled Drug and Substances Act
to operate the sites.

The Conservative government, poised to introduce a tough crime policy
to combat the drug trade, is cool to the idea of the only existing
supervised injection site in Vancouver. It will decide in December
whether to extend its permit.

"We're still studying the one in Vancouver," Harper told reporters,
saying nothing to offer hope to a host of Victoria officials in
support of the research project.

Liberal MP Keith Martin, a medical doctor, said research into
supervised drug injection sites is critical to the way in which
Canada deals with substance abuse.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said the Conservative government has "blinders
on" concerning harm-reduction drug strategies.

The City of Victoria, Victoria Police Department, Vancouver Island
Health Authority, B.C. health officer Perry Kendall and B.C. Health
Minister George Abbott have all gone on record in support of
Victoria's proposed supervised drug injection sites.

However, the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, representing 1,500
members, has come out flatly against the idea.

Dr. Richard Stanwick, Vancouver Island Health Authority chief medical
health officer, has estimated three sites would cost about $1.2
million to operate annually but could save up to $2.8 million in
health-care costs.