NEW INJECTION SITES STALLED

Mark Townsend Says The Feds' 2007 Extension For Insite Is No Victory.

A completed proposal and architectural plans for a second
safe-injection site are currently on the back burner, according to a
Downtown Eastside housing advocate.

Mark Townsend, the executive director of the Portland Hotel
SocietyaE"whose staff operate the Insite safe-injection facility in
partnership with Vancouver Coastal HealthaE"told the Georgia
Straight he can't think about opening a second safe-injection site
in the area until the fate of Insite is clearer.

Federal Conservative Health Minister Tony Clement did not approve a
renewal of a three-year Health Canada exemption for supervised
injection of drugs at Insite, North America's first-ever supervised
safe-injection site. The minister put off any decision until
December 31, 2007, pending a study on how facilities like
Insite "affect crime, prevention, and treatment", according to a
September 1 news release.

"I think the first thing is, we've got an extension until New Year's
Eve [2007], and I see that extension as a very temporary thing,"
Townsend told the Straight. "What we have to do is more work with
the federal government to get them to support it. I think
they're out there looking for something else, like a
three- pillared or a two-pillared approach, you know? The first
priority was to work on keeping this one. It's good they've extended
it, but I don't think it's open as part of another comprehensive
plan, if you know what I mean."

Portland Hotel Society was part of a coalitionaE"which includes
former Vancouver mayors Philip Owen, Larry Campbell, and Mike
HarcourtaE"that has been pressuring the federal government to renew
Insite's lease. Standing in front of Insite speaking to the
Straight, Townsend said the deferral by Clement is "not a victory".

Townsend also said that even though he has plans for another
safe-injection site, he does not plan to open a second one illegally
to make a political statement because "people here are on-side".

"Insite requires the cooperation of all levels of government and
[stakeholder] groups," Townsend said. "But in terms of getting
another site, from our perspective, we do need another site, and
we've done some work in that regard by getting an architect to draw
a sketch and we've written up what is required to get the extension.
We have a bound proposal, but it's not submitted, as they [the
federal government] have clearly stated they will not accept more
submissions."

In the September 1 statement, Clement said he will be working with
his counterparts in Justice and Public Safety, as well as the
Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse, toward a national drug
strategy. He also said Health Canada will not entertain any
applications for the establishment of new sites until the drug
strategy and Insite review are complete.

For Ann Livingston, executive program director with the Vancouver
Area Network of Drug Users, this does not address the "urgent" need
on the streets now.

"VANDU is mounting a campaign," Livingston told the Straight. "We
need four or five safe-injection sites. If the federal government
won't take applications, just open them. If they [federal
government] won't do the right thing, then VANDU has to take the lead."

Livingston said she is planning "sit-ins, letter-writing, anything"
to draw attention to what she sees as an urgent plight for drug
users who need to inject and smoke drugs in a safe setting. She
claims Insite is equipped to handle only a small percentage of that
demand. "It's five percent of injected-drug use."

Townsend said he agrees, adding: "In the Downtown Eastside, you'd
probably need three [sites].

"I'd like to focus on detox beds, heroin maintenance, and safe-
injection sites, but we're only human," he said. "We had to have a
fight at the federal level, which is a tough fight. With [site]
number two, we wanted to include the ability to smoke drugs, just to
get some of that off the street. There has been an impact in
reducing injections on the street, but there's a lot of smoking of
crack. I'm not sure if we can get that off the street as easily as
injection, but that is our aim. If we were to do another one,
we'd glass the booths in so someone could smoke there as well."