INJECTION SITE BOOSTS DRUG USE: RCMP

Critical Report on Vancouver Site Could Harm Victoria's Bid for Similar Project

The RCMP, which has publicly taken a neutral position on Vancouver's
Supervised Injection Site for drug addicts, has produced an internal
report harshly critical of the pilot project.

The three-page analysis, obtained by the Vancouver Sun, suggests that
the "harm reduction" approach -- helping addicts avoid overdosing or
contracting HIV/AIDS -- actually encourages drug use.

"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," states Staff-Sgt. C.D. (Chuck)
Doucette, Pacific region co-ordinator of the RCMP's Drugs and
Organized Crime Awareness program.

Doucette's analysis, obtained through the Access to Information Act,
was produced in July while Insite, which opened on a trial basis in
late 2003, lobbied to have its licence extended for three years.
Skeptical of the project, Prime Minister Stephen Harper would agree
only to extend it to December 2007.

Harper, who said he would rely partly on the advice of the RCMP, also
cut federal research money for the site.

Dr. Thomas Kerr, one of the authors of a recent report on the
Vancouver facility, reviewed the Mountie report and said he finds it
"frightening" that the Harper government is relying on such analysis.

Kerr, a research scientist at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in
HIV/AIDS, said Doucette made numerous errors and lacks credibility --
and should "really leave that type of evaluation activity with
qualified scientists."

Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe also criticized the report yesterday, saying
he remains committed to examining the potential of a few secure
injection sites here. "For every RCMP officer who says this facility
is not valuable and not meeting its intended purpose, there will be a
police officer who says it is valuable." The narrow focus of the
Vancouver RCMP report underlines the strong need for comprehensive
analysis, the mayor said yesterday.

Drug researcher Benedikt Fischer is conducting such a study on
Victoria's users, due out early in the new year. That study will form
the basis of Victoria's application to Health Canada to run a pilot
project here.

In his report, Doucette said overdose deaths in Vancouver increased
from 2004 to 2005 despite a corresponding decrease in the rest of the
province. He also said there's "no evidence" to show that Insite
users are going to drug treatment, and said there has been no
decrease in public drug use in the area around the facility. Kerr,
however, said peer-reviewed and published scientific studies have
shown that Insite users are going into detox facilities and that drug
use in the area has been reduced.