A NEEDLING QUESTION

Safe Drug Injection Sites Worth Trying In Communities With No Other Option

Safe injection sites for heroin users are a risky measure with no
guaranteed result, but it's a gamble worth making for cities with severe
drug problems, such as Vancouver.

That troubled city's mayor, Larry Campbell, plans to establish safe centres
for heroin addicts to shoot up, with clean needles and staff on hand to
deal with any medical emergencies. Recent developments have aided his
mission, including a report from Parliament's special committee on
non-medical use of drugs, which recommends similar sites in Toronto and
Montreal.

Health Canada's guidelines will clear away the legal barriers, exempting
safe injection sites from Canada's drug laws, provided certain conditions
are met. Under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, certain drugs are
illegal, including drug paraphernalia that have been used and contain
traces of a controlled substance.

Health Canada will allow exemptions only if the sites are conducting their
activities as scientific research projects, and will take 60 days to review
the application and grant an approval. It's a bit rigid, but not
unreasonably so, considering the controversy surrounding the issue.

Canadian Alliance MP Randy White calls the proposed sites "shooting
galleries," and predicts they will draw in drug addicts and destroy
communities. If he is right, the experiment will have failed.

But Vancouver has problems Calgary doesn't face: It has areas where drug
addicts openly gather, shoot up and loiter. It isn't worried about
attracting this seedy element to its downtown eastside -- it's already
there. Providing safe injection sites is not giving up, it's an attempt to
fight back.

Vancouver has a four-pillar approach to addressing the drug problem, which
tries to balance enforcement, prevention, treatment and harm reduction.
Safe injection sites are not a cure-all; instead they're an attempt to
reduce harm.

There are an estimated 15,000 injection drug users in B.C. In the early
1990s, overdoses became the leading cause of preventable deaths among 30-
to 40-year-old men. By 2000, there were 1,500 current or former drug users
who had registered for services at AIDS Vancouver.

Safe injection sites will not stop the staggering level of drug abuse, but
they may at least reduce the deaths. They will give addicts access to
medical care and drug treatment programs. Used needles will be disposed of
safely, reducing the risk to members of the general public.

Evidence from other cities around the world suggests safe injection sites
can reduce the sort of drug-related problems Vancouver is experiencing. But
Health Canada is right to demand these facilities be conducted as an
experiment. It's important to monitor results, to see whether HIV or
hepatitis infection rates, overdose deaths and addiction-related theft go
down, and rehabilitation rates go up.

Vancouver's mayor is obligated to meet his election promise. However, if
safe injection sites don't deliver the societal improvements they promise,
he shouldn't be afraid to redirect taxpayer dollars back to law enforcement.