SAFE SITES FACE REALITY OF DRUG USE

Providing Addicts With Injection Facilities Will Help Reduce The Risks Of
IV Drug Use

Mayor Alan Lowe and B.C.'s chief health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, say
Victoria needs a safe injection site like the one that's been operating in
Vancouver for more than six months.

Lowe says it's necessary to cut down on the number of addicts shooting up
in alleys, on lawns and around businesses and schools. Kendall says it's
necessary to reduce the number of overdoses and diseases being spread by
users who share needles.

There is an IV drug user population of about 4,700 in Vancouver's Downtown
Eastside. We have nowhere near that number but, as Kendall points out,
Victoria's needle exchange centre has more than 2,000 clients -- many of
whom are shooting up in front of us, or in some dark alley where they may
not be found until it's too late.

But does Victoria want the notoriety of becoming only the second city in
North America to set up a safe injection site? The International Narcotics
Control Board, a United Nations Agency, declared earlier this month that
Vancouver's Insite violates the principle that illicit drugs should be used
only for "medical or scientific purposes."

U.S. authorities view it -- and the federal government's proposal to remove
criminal penalties for the possession of small amounts of marijuana -- as a
shameful retreat in the war against drugs. Opponents of safe injection
sites argue that they condone the use of illicit drugs, pander to drug
pushers, divert precious health dollars from other uses and degrade
neighbourhoods.

It's true that safe injection sites can accommodate only a fraction of
those who could benefit from them. Vancouver's Insite can handle only about
600 visits in an 18-hour day and, since addicts may visit Insite two or
three times a day, is clearly not being used by more than about 10 per cent
of the Downtown Eastside's IV drug users. Its success in attracting drug
users has resulted in proposals for additional sites in that city.

But Insite is not just a clean place to shoot up. By December, after only
11 weeks of operation, nurses at the facility had treated 36 overdoses and
were getting two or three detoxification requests from drug users every
day. The pilot project, with financial support from the federal and
provincial governments, is also collecting data on the number of users with
HIV or AIDS, the number of long-term IV users compared to casual users, and
the success rate of those who enrol in detoxification programs.

The Vancouver experience shows how Victoria, and its addicts, could benefit
from a safe injection site -- by taking IV drug use off the streets, by
reducing the risk of fatal overdoses and the spread of disease, if only to
a small degree.

But as an element of harm reduction for addicts, it will do nothing for the
overall drug problem this city faces if it is not accompanied by
enforcement against drug trafficking, prevention programs (primarily
education) and effective treatment -- the "four pillars" approach being
taken in Vancouver.

If city councillors agree with Lowe that Victoria needs a safe injection
site, they will have to persuade Health Canada to grant an exemption under
federal legislation similar to Vancouver's for the use of illicit drugs for
a scientific research pilot project. They will have to try to get funds for
the site from the federal and provincial governments and -- since
Victoria's drug users are not all from the city -- from the Vancouver
Island Health Authority.

Deciding where to put a safe injection site will require broad public
consultation and co-operation. It must be close enough to where addicts
hang out -- in Vancouver it has been found that IV drug users won't use
Insite if it means a walk of more than 15 minutes -- without becoming a
magnet for users from other regions.

It may be a long time coming, but if Lowe is convinced a safe injection
site is what Victoria needs, he should begin the debate in city council now.