CHIEF: WHAT A DOPEY NOTION

Haven for addicts?

Providing safe houses for drug addicts to inject narcotics is a "cop-out,"
Police Chief Julian Fantino said yesterday.

"Facilitating drug use is not the answer," Fantino said.

He said he's concerned the safe rooms would validate drug use while doing
nothing to prevent the root causes of the problem.

"We'd be admitting defeat," he said.

Fantino said safe houses would generate a whole host of new problems, from
the degeneration of nearby neighbourhoods to potential liability issues for
the city.

What's more, he said, there is no legal framework for the police being able
to ignore criminal activity.

Downtown Councillor Kyle Rae and a private group are advocating the
creation of "safe injection rooms" as a way to reduce overdoses and the
spread of AIDS as well as provide counselling.

The rooms should also be used to hand out free heroin, eliminating the
addict's need for criminal activity, said Rae.

Drug Overdoses Down

Rae and a private group called the Illicit Drug Users Union of Toronto said
the safe rooms work well in Europe.

After safe rooms were introduced in Frankfurt, Germany, death by drug
overdose declined from 108 in 1990 to 35 in 1998, Rae said.

Rae toured facilities there and in Amsterdam, Holland while on a trip with
other city officials in December.