TIME RUNNING OUT FOR INJECTION SITE

The Harper government is clearly being tested on its drug policy
leadership. Harper is well-known for his boot-camp mentality in the
war on drugs but now his government is challenged with the future of
Insite, North America's only legal supervised injection facility
where addicts can inject drugs in the care of health professionals
and benefit from addiction services.

Last spring the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority applied to Health
Canada for a renewal of Insite's three-year exemption under Section
56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The exemption allows
the health authority in partnership with the PHS Community Services
Society to operate Insite as a scientific research pilot project. The
exemption issued in 2003 came with $500,000/year to support the
project. The B.C. Ministry of Health provided $1.2 million toward
operating costs and renovation of the facility in Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside.

The application for renewal of the exemption (which expires in
September) is down to the wire and if the federal government denies
the application, Insite will be forced to close. Its loss would be
devastating for the addicts, the health care professionals, and the
research community buoyed by results so far.

Insite has proven to be very successful in providing a safe,
health-focused place where addicts can inject drugs in a way that
controls overdosing, prevents the spread of HIV/AIDS, and offers
addiction counselling. The facility is supported by a wide range of
professionals including Vancouver's municipal police as well as Mayor
Sam Sullivan. When PM Harper asked the RCMP to study the facility
following the request for the extension, the force commissioned two
B.C. criminologists, Ray Corrado of SFU and Irwin Cohen of UCFV, who
reported yesterday that the federal government should grant Insite an
extension. In their opinion, Insite has helped addicts but it has not
been opened long enough to get a full picture on its impact on the
transmission of HIV and other blood-borne diseases. Its potential has
not yet been realized.

For the last three years, the facility has been under some pretty
intensive research and evaluation by the acclaimed B.C. Centre for
Excellence in HIV/AIDS. Results, which have been published in
peer-reviewed journals including the British Medical Journal, the
Canadian Medical Association Journal, and The Lancet, all show that
Insite is encouraging more people into detoxification programs and is
helping high-risk drug users.

Contrary to the disaster forecasting of sceptics three years ago, it
has not led to an increase in drug-related crime or encouraged new
people into drug use. Instead, it has reduced the number of people
injecting in public and the number of addicts sharing needles. But it
could reach many more.

In a two-year period to 31 March 2006, 7,278 individuals registered
at Insite; the average daily visits were 607; 4,084 referrals were
made with 40 per cent of them to addiction counselling; there were
453 overdoses but no fatalities thanks to specially trained staff,
and there were 2,055 nursing interventions for abscess care.

More than the numbers, though, are the thoughts and emotions of the
people using the services. Here, they aren't junkies, street kids,
addicts. They are unique people with critical needs and immense
health and mental issues. "I think that it's been a benefit to my
health, definitely," said one client. "Like being more self-aware on
safety issues."

Such a simple sentence but, for them, such a profound step forward.
If PM Harper can grasp that one simple concept, renew Insite's
exemption, and expand the program across the country, it would be one
giant leap forward for everyone trapped by drugs and the
professionals trying to help them.