VANCOUVER MAYOR VOWS TO PRESS ON WITH CRACK SAFEHOUSE

Won't help addicts, police union says. Injection sites with safe
pipes, mouthpieces are meant to reduce transmission of HIV

Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell and the Vancouver Police Union are at
loggerheads over Campbell's plan to expand to city's safe-injection
site to include a room where crack cocaine addicts can light up.

Campbell said yesterday the site now predominantly used by heroine,
morphine, hydromorphone and cocaine intravenous drug users should be
expanded so that crack addicts can toke up in a safe setting - a
scenario the police union said would create crack dens and not help
addicts kick the habit.

"I don't know why they would be upset about that and fully supportive
of supervised injection sites," Campbell said.

But union president Tom Stamatakis said despite a first-year
evaluation of the safe-injection site showing 600 injections each day
occur at the downtown locale and 107 overdoses were prevented there,
his members see little evidence on the street that the number of
people shooting up and smoking up in alleys is going down.

Stamatakis added the city would have to make a special request to
Health Canada to use the site's smoking room, which recently had a new
ventilation system installed in preparation for use by crack addicts.

Proponents of the crack smoking room argue it will provide users with
access to safe pipes and mouthpieces, which will reduce transmission
of diseases like hepatitis and HIV.

Campbell said he'll listen to the police union's objections but he
vowed to pursue the expansion.

"Everybody is entitled to their opinion," the mayor said.