OVERDOSES BUT NO DEATHS AT SAFE INJECTION SITE

VANCOUVER - Health officials say there have been 20 drug overdoses inside
Vancouver's new supervised injection site, but no one has died.

The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority says that's proof the government
sanctioned site which opened six weeks ago, is working.

Spokesperson Viviana Zanocco says at first, there were very few overdoses.

But she says it's now almost a daily occurrence.

Zanocco says in most cases, oxygen is used to revive those who have
overdosed, and on rare occasions paramedics are called in.

She says the important thing is no one has died.

"Perhaps if these people, if they had been alone, or in an alley, or in
their own room, maybe they would have had a bigger problem, and maybe some
of them might not have made it," she says.

Zanocco also says more people than predicted have been using the site.

Former Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen says so far he's heard little criticism
from people who live and work in the area, or from anyone else.

"It's amazing," he says. "The people that were so opposed to the
four-pillar facilities in downtown Vancouver that we proposed in 2001 have
all disappeared, and they recognize that it works."