VANCOUVER TO SEEK OK FOR SAFE-INJECTION SITES

Health Canada Warns Sites Are Illegal Without Approval From Ottawa

VANCOUVER -- Vancouver's politicians and health officials are gearing up to
submit the country's first proposals for supervised-injection sites for
drug users, after Health Canada issued draft guidelines for the sites.

That's in spite of some concerns that the draft guidelines say Health
Canada will only allow exemptions from the country's drug laws for
safe-injection sites if they are conducted as scientific research projects
and that they are illegal until Health Canada grants an exemption.

Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell maintained Friday, as he did throughout his
election campaign, that such sites are not illegal.

But he said he plans to work within the guidelines.

"What I hope for is that it will be in an existing health facility and what
I assume is that we are first in the pipeline," Campbell said. He is so far
the only politician in Canada who has committed to attending a special
meeting in Ottawa Dec. 16 and 17 that is being convened by Health Canada in
order to consult on the final version of the guidelines.

"If we can live with these guidelines, we're ready to go right now."

Campbell said he's hopeful that any proposal for a site will be approved in
less than the 60 days that Health Canada has proposed as the review time.

He said there are groups that are ready to go with proposals as soon as the
guidelines are finalized, which is expected to be within a couple of weeks
of the meeting in Ottawa. That meeting will be attended by health
officials, city staff members and representatives of social-service groups
from cities that are interesting in starting up pilot sites. Vancouver and
Montreal are leading the way, but other cities, including Victoria, Regina,
and Quebec City, have expressed interest.

Campbell and others who have been waiting for the guidelines were pleased
they have finally been issued, and praised Health Minister Anne McLellan
for moving on the issue.

But there was some concern from advocates about the language and
restrictions of the guidelines.

The draft guidelines start with a preamble saying that "there has been very
little systematic or rigorous assessment of outcomes and effects of SIS
(supervised injection sites) to date" and that "their effectiveness remains
to be demonstrated."

The preamble goes on to emphasize that Canada is a signatory to three
international drug-control conventions and to state that, according to the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, "the operation of a SIS would be
illegal under the CDSA, as would the activities of drug users in respect of
possession and injection of substances controlled under the CDSA."

It then states that exemptions "are not a mechanism to encourage or promote
the use of controlled drugs or substances" and that exemptions will be
granted only if sites are set up for a scientific purpose where anyone who
comes in to inject is a research subject.