SCIENTIFIC DATA BACKS INSITE

TORONTO--A scientific review at the XVI International AIDS Conference
in Toronto on August 15 became the scene of an emotional outpouring
of support for Insite, Vancouver's supervised-injection site.

Thomas Kerr, a research scientist in charge of evaluating Insite,
presented findings from the three years that Insite has operated in
Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Presentations at the International
AIDS Conference are generally quiet affairs, but this one was tense
from the start, with Steven Fletcher, a Conservative MP and
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, showing up, a
surprise to many attendees.

On July 21, Fletcher told Metro Vancouver that the federal government
would only make the decision on Insite's future after the site's
current exemption from Canada's drug laws runs out on September 12.
Without the exemption, drug users will not be able to legally inject
drugs at the site and the facility will have to close.

A visibly grim Kerr told scientists and activists that Insite has
been shown to reduce public drug use, and has successfully moved drug
users into detox and treatment. He also said that of the 361 reported
overdoses at Insite, not a single one has resulted in death. These
findings have been published in the Lancet and the New England
Journal of Medicine, among other publications. Coauthored by Evan
Wood and a team of researchers from the B.C. Centre for Excellence in
HIV/AIDS, the research also found that the negative effects that
critics of the site feared--such as an increase in drug-related crime
and an increase in drug use--failed to materialize.

At the close of the 10-minute presentation, the usually reserved
conference delegates rose to their feet for a standing ovation. In
the midst of this show of support, Steffanie A. Strathdee, one of the
session's panellists and a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health, grabbed a microphone and berated the
Conservative gov---ernment's lack of action.

"If the Canadian government closes this site, they will have blood on
their hands," she announced from the stage, a few feet from where
Fletcher sat in the front row.

Although the Harper government has stated that it has yet to decide
on Insite, its supporters have been increasingly on edge as less than
a month remains before the site will be forced to close. The
Vancouver Sun reported that federal officials told activists the
site's fate would be decided by Health Minister Tony Clement, along
with Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day and Justice Minister Vic
Toews. Harper's press secretary subsequently denied the claim.

An RCMP-commissioned study recently reported favourably on the
facility, and other organizations support its continuation, including
Health Canada, the City of Vancouver, the B.C. government, the
Vancouver police department, and the Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association.

At a press conference following his presentation, Kerr accompanied
Julio Montaner, the director of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in
HIV/AIDS, and Diane Tobin, head of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug
Users, in asking the government to extend the site's mandate.

Montaner, who lashed out at Ottawa for putting off the decision,
told reporters that "in my 25 years of scientific research, Insite is
the single most effective program I have ever been a part of."

When asked what she would do if the site were to close, Tobin said,
"I'll start going to a lot more funerals."