'HUGE STEP' FOR SAFE INJECTION SITES

National guidelines on safe-injection sites for drug addicts will be
available at the end of this month to allow communities to submit
pilot-project proposals to the federal government, Health Minister Anne
McLellan says.

Mayor Philip Owen, who has lobbied for the past four years for federal
government approval, said he expects many major cities, including
Vancouver, will apply for approval.

"It's a huge step. We haven't had Health Canada's endorsement until now. I
just think we finally got the blessing from the minister of health to move
this forward," Owen said Friday.

Safe-injection sites are places where drug users can go to inject drugs
using clean equipment and where medically trained personnel are available
if needed. The idea is to help prevent deaths from overdoses and the
transmission of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.

Last February, a motion was passed unanimously at the Big City Mayors
Meeting in Ottawa that recommended at least three or four cities would be
willing to participate in a scientific trial of supervised-consumption sites.

Owen said another meeting was held in May to determine which cities would
be interested and 12 cities were represented.

"Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, Regina, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Halifax were some
of the cities that were interested. This shows she (McLellan) has been
listening to the cities. I've very pleased she will give us guidelines and
we can move forward."

Owen said 27 cities around the world already have safe-injection sites and
mayors he has spoken with say it was the best thing they ever did and wish
they had done it earlier.

"It solves a lot of your street problems. We already have an injection site
in the lane behind Carnegie Centre. We need to put it in a facility and
introduce [drug users] to detox [and] methadone and get them away from the
dealers."

In comments broadcast Friday, McLellan said a consensus would be necessary
in any community that applies for safe-injection sites, but she did not
define what consensus the federal government would require.

However, MP Libby Davies (Vancouver East) says she's concerned the minister
will give "veto power" to groups, such as businesses in the area of
proposed injection sites, that will never agree to let them go ahead.

"We need people to display courage and leadership and say we're not going
to muck around with this any more," she said. "We need her to clearly say
unequivocally this is a go ahead. To stand up for a basic health initiative
that will save lives in the Downtown Eastside."

Davies said if approval is not given in Vancouver, overdoses will continue
to be the leading cause of death here for men and women between the ages of
30 and 44.

She added safe-injection sites are very simple to operate and studies have
shown that where such facilities exist, addicts don't overdose.

"People in authority have a duty to make this happen."

Owen said he doesn't have a problem with seeking consensus from all
stakeholders, and noted there will always be some who are "advanced in
their thinking" and others who will need "convincing."

"Of course we have to deal with local residents and businesses and we will
open a dialogue," he said.

COPE mayoralty candidate Larry Campbell, who was active in developing
Owen's four-pillars approach to drug addiction (enforcement, treatment,
prevention and harm reduction) said safe-injection sites are clearly a
health issue and it's a matter of zoning.

"When we put a cancer clinic in place we don't get approval from nearby
businesses," he said.

But Campbell said he is also pleased with McLellan's comments because they
confirm his belief that safe-injection sites are indeed legal.

Farah Mohamed, a spokeswoman for McLellan, confirmed the federal health
ministry has determined a "legal framework does exist" for safe-injection
sites to be created "as medical, scientific research projects."

It is estimated that approximately 100,000 Canadians are injection drug users.

Meanwhile, Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper told The Vancouver Sun's
editorial board Friday there are no simple answers to solving the problems
associated with Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

While saying he is opposed to a "war on drugs" approach to drug enforcement
in Vancouver's poorest neighbourhood, he added: "I'm not sure what the next
step is. We don't know what it requires."

Harper, who also admitted he is open to the idea of decriminalizing soft
drugs such as marijuana, claimed his caucus is divided on the issue of how
to treat areas like the Downtown Eastside.

"What we need to do is something that will work. And what will work I'm not
sure we know the answer to," he said.

Harper said any changes to Canadian drug laws should take into account the
U.S. position on drugs and what impact such changes could have on relations
with this country's largest trading partner.