TO THE POINT

THE Conservative government has long cast a suspicious eye on
Vancouver's safe injection site. When you're busy talking tough on
crime, on the surface, it doesn't look good to go promoting ways for
addicts to shoot up.

These sentiments were undoubtedly considered when the feds announced
in September they would only extend the site's permission to operate
until December 2007 - even though Health Canada officials were in
favour of extending that until 2009. In denying the longer
timetable, Health Minister Tony Clement's office said "research" had
"raised questions" about the effectiveness of the site.

But according to a report to be published this week in the Canadian
Medical Association Journal by the B.C. Centre for Excellence in
HIV-AIDS, the only research on the site suggests it's having exactly
the intended effect.Since the site started up, there has been a
reduction in public drug use and discarded needles and addicts have
been more likely to get into detox, as well as other social services.

The problems in the Downtown Eastside haven't been eliminated - it's
estimated there's only room in the injection site for about 10 per
cent of addicts in the area.

But the problems the site was set up to address - both for addicts
and for the public - have indeed improved.

Given that, it would be tragic and stupid if the feds decided to kill
this project strictly on ideological grounds.

We hope that's a point worth taking.