FEDERAL HEALTH MINISTER SLAMS INSITE INJECTION SITE

Medical Association's Backing Of Program Puts It On 'A Slippery
Slope,' Clement Warns

VANCOUVER - Federal Health Minister Tony Clement used his platform at
the Canadian Medical Association conference Monday to once again slam
Vancouver's supervised injection site, saying the association's
recent endorsements of Insite are "dangerously misleading."

"Clearly, we are on a slippery slope here. Already there are people
saying injection sites are not enough, that government should give
out heroin for free. Others are now calling for 'inhalation rooms'
for people who smoke their drugs," Clement said in his speech, a copy
of which was provided to Canwest News Service.

"I feel our government is now drawing the line in a place with which
Canadians are comfortable, and I continue to review new information
as it comes forward."

Clement devoted the bulk of his address on the opening day of the CMA
conference, which is being held in Montreal, to the supervised
injection site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

"Insite may slow the death spiral of a deadly drug habit, but it does
not reverse it. I do not regard this as a positive health outcome,"
Clement said.

He added that he questioned whether it is ethical for health workers
to support the distribution of drugs that are of "unknown substance,
or purity, or potency, drugs that cannot otherwise be legally prescribed.

"If this were done in a doctor's office the provincial college would
rightly be investigating."

But proponents of the program argue the majority of studies done on
Insite -- including those conducted by the government's own health
committee -- have shown that the program saves money and encourages
addicts to seek treatment.

Dr. Thomas Kerr, of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS at St.
Paul's Hospital, said Clement is "highly selective" in his facts,
saying his information is based on articles that haven't been
subjected to a peer review. "It's just a real pathetic manipulation
of data," he said.

In material published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Kerr
said, "You find evidence pointing clearly to Insite as doing what it
is supposed to do.

"Who do you want to believe? Do you want to believe published
articles in the New England Journal or Lancet, do you want to believe
the World Health Organization or do you want to believe Tony Clement?
It's embarrassing."

In his speech, Clement took issue with a letter he received in May
from CMA president Dr. Brian Day and an opinion piece Day wrote in June.

"The letter and article from the CMA supported the supervised
injection site, saying, 'There is growing evidence that harm
reduction efforts can have a positive effect on the poor health
outcomes associated with drug use,' " Clement said, adding that the
injection site has crossed a line and is no longer advocating simply
"harm reduction."

Clement said an expert panel commissioned by the federal Health
Department last year found that Insite has had no impact on reducing
the transmission of blood-borne illnesses such as HIV/AIDS. Nor has
it significantly cut the 50 overdose deaths annually in Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside.

"Over the last five years, while Insite has been operating, we could
have provided treatment to 5,000 addicts. Instead, during that time,
250 addicts have died of drug overdose alone," Clement said, adding
that the vast majority of injections still take place in back alleys
and seedy hotels, and the centre's $3-million annual cost would be
better spent elsewhere.

Kerr concedes there are users still shooting up in alleys because
Vancouver has such a large crack problem. There are 5,000 to 8,000
drug users in the Downtown Eastside, he said, and Insite can't serve them all.