SAFE-INJECTION SITES A PROVEN SUCCESS

Addicts Deserve Our Help, They Should Not Be Forced To Die In Alleys

Who would think that the most disturbing words I've seen in print for
years would come from a member of the Mounties?

When people look back on these times, they will be baffled by our
persistent stupidity when it comes to drugs. From alcohol in the 1930s
to crystal meth 70 years later we keep trying to police addictions and
abuse out of existence.

In the process we have spent untold fortunes, created business
opportunities for every organized crime group from the Mafia to bikers
to Asian gangs and watched as more people suffered and died, more
families were destroyed and more communities damaged.

And in all that time the approach never once showed any signs of
working.

The disturbing words came in an RCMP report on Insite, the Vancouver
safe-injection site.

The site opened in late 2003, Canada's first experiment in giving
addicts a safe, clean place to shoot up. The theory -- tested in other
countries -- is that the site offers big benefits. People injecting
drugs in the centre don't share needles, so they don't spread HIV and
hepatitis and other illnesses. If they overdose, help is near. They
can get medical care. If they're ready to try quitting, they can be
referred to services.

And they aren't sticking needles in their arms on the street, a
significant benefit to neighbours and nearby businesses.

It has worked. More than dozen serious research studies have looked at
Insite's impact. They've been reviewed by independent scientists and
published in The Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine and other
journals. The site has increased the chance addicts will decide to try
treatment. It has cut the spread of deadly diseases and saved lives.
Street problems are reduced.

And there is no evidence that it has increased drug use, which is not
surprising. People are not going to go say, "hey, a safe-injection
site, I think I'll try heroin."

But the Conservative government is unconvinced.

Insite's three-year operating certificate was up for renewal this
fall. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he didn't have enough
information to make a decision, despite the research and the support
from Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan, Premier Gordon Campbell, Vancouver
police and public-health officials.

The federal government refused to renew Insite's operating
certificate, instead giving the site a temporary reprieve until the
end of next year.

The prime minister said he wanted more research (then his government
cut off research funding). Harper said he especially wanted to hear
from the RCMP.

Peter O'Neil of the Vancouver Sun made a freedom-of-information
request for RCMP documents on Insite. He found that the Mounties'
regional co-ordinator for drugs and organized crime awareness had
prepared a sharply negative report.

There were no statistics or analysis in the three-page document, just
opinion. The RCMP doesn't actually patrol the area where the site is
located.

And the report didn't provide any evidence to challenge the studies
showing the site has resulted in more people seeking treatment and
saved lives.

In fact, the RCMP argues, the fact that the site is seen to save lives
might be a bad thing.

"The RCMP has concerns regarding any initiative that lowers the
perceived risks associated with drug use," the report says. "There is
considerable evidence to show that, when the perceived risks
associated to drug use decreases, there is a corresponding increase in
number of people using drugs."

Stop and think what those two sentences say.

The RCMP "has concerns" about a safe-injection site or any other
measure that makes drug use appear less dangerous.

You could give the report the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps it meant
to express concerns about initiatives that offered the illusion of
increased safety, rather than the reality.

But the injection site does offer increased safety.

And what the words say is clear: "Any initiative that lowers the
perceived risks of drug use." Not just those that offer the illusion.

So if someone's daughter gets AIDS, or someone's father dies in an
alley, that's not necessarily a bad thing, our national police force
appears to suggest. More deaths and illness might deter others from
doing drugs and save lives in the long term.

And if a respected RCMP drug expert overdoses in his home -- as
happened on the Island five years ago -- that too is apparently to be
considered a useful object lesson for others, rather than a symbol of
how addiction can claim anyone and how little we do to help.

Victoria is still going ahead with its application to operate
safe-injection facilities, based in part on the proven benefits of the
Vancouver experiment.

But the federal government's willingness to ignore the facts and leave
Insite's future in doubt suggests the proposal faces a cool reception.

We have tried locking addicts up. We have tried letting them die. The
result has been social decay, more addiction and damaged communities.
Our policies have failed.

It's cruel and stupid to continue them.

Safe-injection sites save lives, reduce addiction and make the
community safer.

And those, apparently, are not yet seen as worthwhile by the RCMP or
the Harper government.