THE EVIDENCE IS CLEAR: HARM REDUCTION WORKS

When the National Post comments on harm reduction so glibly ("'Harm
reduction' doesn't work," editorial, May 29), and without any
research to back up those comments, it does itself, and its readers,
a great disservice.

Addiction is a complex issue, and anyone who thinks a simple solution
exists hasn't worked in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. I am the
executive director of the non-profit organization that, together with
Vancouver Coastal Health, runs Vancouver's Supervised Injection Site.
I am a nurse by training, and a public health advocate by design --
because all of my training as a nurse wasn't enough to make a
substantial difference in people's lives.

Just like the author of the Post's editorial, I thought helping those
with addiction was simple. We just need to offer treatment. But if it
were that easy, the problem would have been solved long ago. I
wouldn't have had to call the parents of addicts who had overdosed
and tell them their child was dead. I met one mother, at the airport,
who had flown across the country to visit her dying son. She arrived
too late and fell to the floor screaming in grief when she heard the
news. She wanted her addict son alive, addicted or not. Which is what
harm reduction does -- it keeps people alive, so that one day, they
can enter treatment.

Harm reduction strategies buy time because not everyone is ready to
enter treatment. Clean needles and condom distribution prevent the
spread of disease. These are basic health interventions that are
accepted across the world, from the United Nations to the medical
health officers in every jurisdiction of this country.

Vancouver's Supervised Injection Site -- the only one in North
America is -- neither the problem nor the solution. It is one measure
designed to reduce public disorder, which it has done; reduce the
spread of HIV, which it has done; provide a doorway into the health
system and into treatment, which it has also done. The Supervised
Injection Site receives no federal government money to operate. In
the past, the federal government did pay for a group of highly
qualified research scientists to conduct a thorough evaluation of
Insite and its outcomes, and has proved its success.

I agree that any nation-wide drug strategy desperately needs to
incorporate improved enforcement, comprehensive prevention programs
and flexible and accessible detox and treatment interventions. But it
also needs to include harm reduction -- so people don't die
unnecessarily and parents don't continue to lose their children. The
most recent piece of research indicates that there has been a 30%
increase in the number of people entering detox and methadone therapy
as a result of using the injection site -- which strengthens further
the argument that harm reduction is a necessary part of the health
care continuum.

As Stephen Harper prepares to unveil his new drug strategy, we
welcome the much-needed resources to expand addiction treatment. We
want Canada to have a drug strategy that Canadians can be proud of. A
drug strategy that acknowledges the suffering of our citizens, one
that allows access to desperately needed treatment and support and
doesn't send addicts back to die alone in Canada's back alleyways.