QUEBEC SAYS NO TO SAFE INJECTION SITES FOR NOW

QUEBEC (Star News Services) - Quebec has decided not to open
safe-injection sites for drug addicts, citing too little scientific
evidence about their effectiveness.

The decision comes only two days after Tony Clement, the federal
health minister, assailed the Canadian Medical Association for
supporting Canada's first supervised drug-injection site in
Vancouver, arguing it is against their profession's code of ethics to
allow drug addicts to shoot up.

The federal government is a vocal opponent of the project and has
repeatedly tried to shut it down.

A spokeswoman for Quebec Health Minister Yves Bolduc said Clement's
comments didn't influence them.

"We are not ready to endorse what Mr. Clement said," Marie-Eve Bedard
said Wednesday. "There's a question of public opinion, but we are
also concerned about the fact that there is no consensus in the
medical community about this. So right now we don't have enough
information to go ahead."

In June, then health minister Philippe Couillard said he was
considering setting up safe-injection sites in the province.