REDUCE HARM, LET SITE GO ON

Prime Minister Harper will soon be making a decision as to whether the
Vancouver Coastal Health Authority's (VCHA) application for a
continuation of the exemption, under Section 56 of the Controlled
Drugs and Substances Act, will be renewed for another three years.
This exemption allowed the VCHA to operate the so-called "safe
injection site" in the Downtown Eastside. I hope the decision will be
for a renewal of the exemption.

Let me be clear. I do not support the legalization of the drugs the
addicts inject at the facility but I do support harm reduction.

Prior to the facility being set up, the number of deaths from
overdoses in the Downtown Eastside was increasing at an alarming rate.
As well, there was serious concern that the sharing of needles among
addicts and the discarding of used needles would lead to an epidemic
outbreak of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. When all three levels of
government advocated for, and the VCHA received approval for, the safe
injection site - the only one in North America - the decision was good
public health policy.

The facility has been subjected to intense scientific scrutiny and
evaluation, resulting in the publication of 20 scientific papers in
prestigious journals. All reports point to the safe injection site
being a success.

The number of overdose deaths has declined. Fewer discarded syringes
and wrappers are found within 10 blocks of the site. And researchers
at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV-AIDS said that "the facility
has resulted in measurable improvements in public order, which in turn
may improve the liveability of communities-while reducing community
concerns stemming from public drug use and discarded syringes." There
are reports that the rate of addicts seeking to quit their habit has
gone up and there is no evidence that the facility has increased drug
use.

The evidence is that the safe injection site works as a harm-reduction
tool.

Three former Vancouver City mayors as well as current Mayor Sam
Sullivan, Vancouver Police Chief Jamie Graham, Kenneth Kwan, chair of
SUCCESS, and two noted criminologists who have been commissioned by
the RCMP to study the issue are among those who support the safe
injection site's exemption renewal. So should Prime Minister Stephen
Harper.