SAFE INJECTION SITE IS A HEALTH ISSUE FIRST

The issue of Vancouver's safe injection site presents Prime Minister
Stephen Harper with an opportunity to show Canadians that the nation
will be governed by neither his personal morality, nor by a so-called
"right wing agenda" that some Liberals intone when trying to scare
voters.

Abbotsford MP Ed Fast is exactly right when he tells The News that his
party should not consider moral objections when dealing with what is a
health issue.

That being the case, it seems obvious that Harper's cabinet will allow
Insite, as the continent's only supervised injection site is known, to
continue in operation.

The facility has operated under a three-year exemption from the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Health Canada granted that
exemption, and funds Insite with $500,000 per year.

Our right-of-centre Premier Gordon Campbell also supports the centre,
and the B.C. Ministry of Health initially put up $1.2 million needed
to convert one-time retail space into a safe injection site. It also
provides operating funding.

Insite is supported by Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan, and both the
Vancouver Police and RCMP say Insite helps control crime. With
approximately 600 drug users injecting there every day, it also
reduces the public disorder in downtown Vancouver, with less people
shooting up in public, and fewer syringes discarded in streets and
parks.

The health care community is behind Insite because it is saving lives.
There are approximately 12,000 intravenous drug users in Vancouver,
and about 4,000 of them are on the downtown East Side. In that area,
nine out of 10 have hepatitis C, and 30 per cent are HIV positive.
Preventing transmission of disease is a key goal. In three years of
operation there have been more than 500 overdoses at Insite, but with
medical staff present, there have been no deaths.

Because of Insite's successes, UCFV criminologist Dr. Irwin Cohen
asserts that there should be another such location, possibly in the
Surrey/Whalley area, so that more can benefit.

This is a key political issue for a Conservative government seeking a
majority government, but more importantly it is a health issue that
enjoys broad professional support.