INJECTION SITE HASN'T LED TO CRIME, STUDY FINDS

Report Says Controversial Health Centre Has Prompted Users to Seek Treatment

VANCOUVER -- The establishment of Canada's only supervised drug
injection site has not increased crime or prompted more drug use in
Vancouver's skid row despite detractors' fears, according to a new
summary of the publicly funded health centre.

Instead, the controversial health centre, where addicts can shoot up
in a sterilized, supervised setting, has reduced the risk of
overdoses and it has also encouraged more users to seek treatment for
their drug dependence, says a report written by four medical
researchers who tracked users of the supervised injection site, which
opened in 2003.

The report, published yesterday in the Canadian Medical Association
Journal, comes during an uncertain time for the three-year-old
injection site, the only one of its kind in Canada.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he does not think the site
should receive federal health money.

Last summer, however, Health Canada extended its funding until 2007.

The site is supported by the Vancouver Police Department, although
the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs is opposed.

"We've demonstrated numerous benefits associated with the site and
we've also ruled out negative impacts," said Dr. Thomas Kerr of the
B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, and a lead researcher on the
health facility.

"Drug use patterns didn't get worse. Crime didn't go up.

"All the things people thought. . . . People thought it would
encourage drug use and enable drug use when in fact, we found . . .
there has been a large entry of people into [detoxification] programs."

Between March of 2004, and April 30, 2005, approximately 320 people
were referred for addiction treatment, the report said.

About 600 addicts use the clinic every day.

In its second year, there were 197 overdoses at the health facility,
but no deaths.

The site is currently a research pilot for Health Canada. Illicit
drug use is permitted on the site because of an exemption from
federal drug laws. The report published in the CMAJ is a summary of
previously published results.

Researchers began tracking the progress of drug users from the day
the centre opened in September, 2003.

Opponents of the plan have said it encourages drug use and feared the
health centre would attract criminals to the already rough
neighbourhood. But an 18-week study of the surrounding area -- before
and after the site opened -- showed that public order was not
diminished by the facility.

Prior to its construction, supporters of the legalized injection site
said the site was needed to curb wide open drug use in Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside.

They also wanted to reduce the spread of diseases -- such as HIV-AIDS
and hepatitis C -- caused by sharing dirty syringes.

But Dr. Kerr said it's impossible to determine whether the rate of
HIV-AIDS has slowed, because the sample of users with the virus is
too small to provide a reliable result. Still, the study showed that
users of the site tended to practice safer methods, including using
sterilized water.

An accompanying commentary to the study says the results show the
injection site to be a health benefit for Vancouver's poorest
neighbourhood and urged that it remain open.

"Instead, the federal governments should draft legislation to allow
other such facilities to operate elsewhere in Canada," the report said.