MAYOR MONITORS FATE OF VANCOUVER DRUG SITE

VICTORIA - Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe is paying close attention to the
fate of Vancouver's supervised-injection site as the city took a step
closer to applying to the federal government for its own facility.

Lowe announced the Centre for Addictions Research of B.C. at the
University of Victoria will immediately begin a research study with
the aim of recommending options for supervised drug use, including an
injection site.

Dr. Benedict Fischer of the research centre will lead the study and
is expected to report before the end of the year. Victoria would then
likely send a research proposal to Health Canada for an exemption
under Canada's drug laws to open an injection site or a service with
supervised drug use.

"We are very optimistic we will be able to see a site open in
Victoria, but nothing is 100-per-cent sure until we have the funding
and the approvals," Lowe said.

He noted the federal government's much anticipated decision whether
to allow the Vancouver site, the only one of its kind in North
America, to continue operating beyond Sept. 12 will undoubtedly
affect Victoria's chances.

Lowe is worried enough about Insite's fate that he has written a
letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper on behalf of a Vancouver
campaign urging the government to extend the experiment or keep it
open indefinitely.

Lowe said he has visited Insite numerous times and believes Vancouver
could use up to four more injection sites. Like many Vancouver
politicians have said, Lowe noted that addicts in Victoria are
already shooting up in alleys and parks.

Victoria Police Chief Paul Battershill, a former member of the
Vancouver department, also supports Lowe's drive for an injection
site. Battershill notes the majority of police calls are related to drugs.

"In addition to [affecting] the safety of our citizens, drug-related
crimes are tying up our officers' time and preventing them from
responding to other calls for service," he said in a media release.