CITY'S OTHER SAFE INJECTION SITE OPERATING WITHOUT FEDERAL PERMISSION

A downtown facility for people with deteriorating health caused by
AIDS never received an exemption from the federal government to
operate its drug injection room.

The Dr. Peter Centre assumed it was operating its injection room for
the past three years under an exemption that Vancouver Coastal Health
sought from Health Canada.

It was only a few months ago that the Centre learned an exemption
under the country's drug laws was not given to the Centre.

Maxine Davis, executive director of the Centre, said she believes the
exemption wasn't given because of a "technical glitch" involving a
document the Centre provided in its application about the building's
security system. Staff had just moved into its new building when the
application was sent, Davis said.

"There was some final execution of the paperwork that didn't seem to
have been completed," she told the Courier.

The Centre sought the exemption to ensure staff and clients wouldn't
be charged with a drug offence. No charges have been laid in the past
three years.

The Centre had already gone public in April 2002 and announced it had
operated an injection room since February 2002.

At the time, the room was located in St. Paul's Hospital, where the
Centre had operated until it moved into its permanent location at
Comox and Thurlow.

The Centre opened the injection room in 2002 after consulting with the
College of Registered Nurses and the Centre's lawyer.

Davis said two overdoses at the Centre formed part of the reason the
Centre chose to open an injection room. In a nutshell, Davis said,
there are "three little words" that encapsulate the reason for
offering an injection room.

"Duty to care," she said. "The bottom line is_ the Dr. Peter Centre is
at greater risk of civil liability if we do not provide the service."

If, for example, a nurse at the Centre refused to allow a client to
inject themselves in the facility and that client went outside and
overdosed, the Centre could be held liable.

"A family member [of the deceased] could take the position that the
Dr. Peter Centre refused to allow registered nurses to practise
according to their standards of nursing practice and it contributed to
[a death]," Davis said.

When the Centre opened an injection room in February 2002, Davis said
she met with Vancouver police to explain the need for the service.

She said the injection room "has not been an issue" for Vancouver
police. The Vancouver police department has publicly stated its
support for Insite on East Hastings, the only legal injection site in
North America.

The key difference between the two sites is that Insite is for any
injection drug users while the Centre is restricted to people
registered there.

Davis said an average of 35 to 50 people regularly use the three-stall
injection room that is staffed by a nurse. As is done at Insite, the
clients buy their drugs illegally and visit the room.They are supplied
with clean equipment to inject. Davis estimated several thousand
injections have occurred and no one has died in the room.

Davis said the Centre will likely pursue an exemption. However, she
said an exemption would not "drive our decision to be or not to be."

The Centre houses a day health program and 24-hour care residence. It
caters to people with AIDS and those with mental illnesses and addictions.

About 70 per cent of the participants at the Centre have either a
history of using substances or are struggling with addiction.

The Centre was the brainchild of Dr. Peter Jepson-Young, a local
doctor, who documented his battle with HIV on CBC TV. He died of AIDS
in November 1992.

Insite's operating licence was set to expire Sept. 12. Health Minister
Tony Clement announced Sept. 1 that it will remain open until December
2007.

The government will conduct further studies on the site and decide in
December 2007 whether it will remain open. Clement did not mention the
Centre in his statement.