HARPER GOVERNMENT MUST COME UP WITH OWN DRUGS PLAN

An effective strategy to fight drug addiction is vitally important for
B.C., not only in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, but for the community
as a whole, which suffers from drug-related crime and other social
ills.

One of the four pillars of the current approach led to the setting up
three years ago of the country's first safe-injection site, where
addicts consume their illegal drugs under supervision.

This week, the Canadian Medical Association Journal published a
summary of research into the pilot project suggesting it has been a
success.

Studies have shown there are fewer junkies shooting up in public and
fewer discarded needles. More addicts are asking for detox, and there
has been no increase in drug-dealing in the vicinity.

The federal government remains skeptical, however, challenging these
findings without producing any evidence of its own to support its
theory that the injection site is a failure.

Health Minister Tony Clement has grudgingly extended legal authority
for the site to function until December next year, but has cut off
federal funds for further research.

Ottawa is entitled to entertain doubts about the efficacy of the site,
particularly as most positive findings about it come from its keenest
proponents. But the feds have an obligation to prove their case,
otherwise their attitude will be open to criticism as no more than a
rigid, ideological standpoint.

Shutting down the site without an alternative course of action would
simply put us back where we were three years ago. And no one wants
that.