EXPAND SAFE-INJECTION SITES, GOVERNMENT URGED

TORONTO -- Federal Health Minister Tony Clement came under further
pressure today after a high-powered press conference of doctors and
scientists called on his government to not only continue with
Vancouver's safe-injection site but to expand it.

At a news conference today, researchers said the evidence was
overwhelming that the landmark site -- the only one of its kind in
North America - not only is valuable to drug addicts but it is good
for the community as well.

"The evidence is irrefutable," said Julio Montaner, director of the
British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and
president-elect of the International AIDS Society.

Several studies have been done on the safe-injection site for heroin
users, at least two of them appearing in the world's top medical
journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet.

Research has found that there has not been a single death from the
336 overdoses at the site over an 18-month period. And ambulance
trips and hospitalizations have been reduced due to the onsite
presence of nurses who were able to treat drug users who overdose at
the safe-injection site.

Even another study reported that there was a significant increase in
the number of heroin addicts who use the facility seeking detox
treatment, compared to addicts who go elsewhere to shoot up with drugs.

The issue is was highlighted at a press conference at the
International AIDS Conference, largely because some 22 per cent of
those who use Vancouver's safe-injection site are HIV-positive.
Without the safe-injection site, there are worries that drug users
will share needles and spread HIV.

Dr. Montaner said that there has to be another reason why the federal
government has not yet renewed its legal exemption, which is required
to permit users to inject illegal drugs. That three-year exemption,
which was granted by the previous Liberal government, expires on Sept. 12th.

Whatever the federal government's reasoning is, Dr. Montaner said it
can't be about scientific evidence.

"It has to be about something else but we have not been able to
figure it out," said Dr. Montaner.

Supporters of the government-sanctioned, 12-booth site are concerned
that the exemption will not be renewed and they warned it will
unquestionably spell more deaths.

Diane Tobin, spokeswoman for the Vancouver Area Network of Drug
Users, who was also at the press conference had this message for
Prime Minister Stephen Harper: "Don't close it because it will kill a
lot of people if you do."

The safe-injection site accommodates more than 600 drug addicts each
day and experts say it needs to be expanded.

Dr. Thomas Kerr, research scientist at the British Columbia Centre
for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, called the situation "bizarre," saying
that usually when there is this weight of scientific evidence,
governments are looking to expand programs.