RCMP DOESN'T BACK 'SAFE' INJECTION: DISTANCING ITSELF

UCFV Researchers Said Expanding Sites Makes Sense

The RCMP is distancing itself from supervised drug injection sites and
the academics it commissioned to review their value.

The force said it opposes expanding the existing Insite injection site
in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside until more research is done.

The statement came in response to media reports on reviews by two
researchers the RCMP hired to study the local site and the
international experience with similar sites.

"The reviews reflect the opinions of the authors and not of the RCMP,"
the statement said.

It stated the RCMP supports the four-pillar approach of Canada's drug
strategy on illicit substance use, including harm reduction - the
category into which supervised injection sites fall, because of
evidence they reduce overdose deaths and the spread of HIV and hepatitis.

"Clearly, harm reduction initiatives must encourage a transition to
treatment and not facilitate a state of perpetual use," the statement
said.

It also criticized the use of the term "safe injection site" as one
that sends mixed messages to the public and young people.

"The RCMP does not consider any illicit drug injection use 'safe' and
therefore encourages the more accurate term 'supervised' injection
site."

University College of the Fraser Valley criminology professor Irwin
Cohen, one of the two authors, said expanding the Vancouver site
appears to make sense, as well as adding additional sites in the region.

The Insite clinic's three-year exemption from Canada's normal drug
laws expires Sept. 12.

The federal Conservative government is under pressure to extend the
exemption, but it hasn't yet made a decision.

The RCMP has not publicly taken a position on whether the existing
site should be allowed to stay open.