HEALTH OFFICER PRAISES SAFE INJECTION SITE

VANCOUVER -- It's time to make safe injection sites part of B.C.'s
healthcare system, says that province's top health officer.

Two years after it opened, health officer Perry Kendall is calling
Vancouver's safe-injection site experiment a success. The Downtown
Eastside facility is reducing overdoses, preventing HIV and Hepatitis
C infections, and getting drug addicts into treatment, he said.
"There's a very good case as to why it should continue as part of the
healthcare continuum," Kendall said.

The pilot program, which began in September 2003, is North America's
first supervised injection facility.

Back in October, Kendall, who chairs the site's steering committee,
asked Health Canada to allow the site to be exempted as a medical service.

Kendall said most of the 6,000 IV-drug users in the Downtown Eastside
are shooting up on the street -- only one in 10 use the site daily.
"There's probably room for more (sites)," he said.

Finding locations for other injection sites may pose a challenge. "In
general, people are quite in favour," Kendall said. "They're just not
quite sure they want it in their backyard."

Last week, Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell said drug addiction should
be treated as a disability.