HEALTH MINISTER KNOCKS B.C. SAFE INJECTION SITE

Federal Health Minister Tony Clement assailed the Canadian Medical
Association yesterday for supporting Vancouver's supervised
drug-injection site, arguing that allowing heroin addicts to shoot up
is against a health professional's code of ethics.

"I find the ethical considerations of supervised injections to be
profoundly disturbing," Clem-ent said in a speech at the CMA's annual
meeting in Montreal.

"Is it ethical," he asked rhetorically, "for health-care professionals
to support the distribution of drugs that are of unknown substance, or
purity, or potency - drugs that cannot otherwise be legally
prescribed?"

Clement added that "the supervised injection site undercuts the ethics
of medical practice and sets a debilitating example for all physicians
and nurses, both present and future in Canada, who might begin to
question whether it's all right to allow someone to overdose under
their care."

Clement did not go so far as to call for the closing of Insite,
Canada's sole supervised drug-injection site, which was established in
2003 as a pilot project.

However, he recommended that the centre's $3 million annual budget be
redirected toward drug treatment and providing housing for Vancouver's
east-side sex workers.

Clement's remarks drew a heated response from a number of the
delegates. Bonnie Cham, chair of the CMA's ethics committee, accused
the minister of manipulating medical ethics to advance the
Conservative government's political agenda.

"IV drug users, like the rest of us, have the right to compassion and
to access to care, which has been proven to be beneficial," Cham said.

In a news conference after the speech, Brian Day, the CMA's outgoing
president, said Clem-ent was "off base" in criticizing physicians'
medical judgment on the issue. Day noted that internal polling by the
CMA has found that nearly 80 per cent of doctors favour supervised
injection sites, also known as harm-reduction facilities.

In June, a B.C. Supreme Court judge said Insite could remain open
indefinitely. The federal government is appealing the ruling.

That same month, former Quebec health minister Philippe Couillard said
the province is considering setting up a safe-injection facility in
Montreal.

Clement refused to comment on that possibility yesterday, saying it's
purely hypothetical.