SUPERVISED INJECTION SITE IS NOT THE WHOLE ANSWER

Re: Addicts need treatment, not harm reduction, Letters, Sept. 2

Barb Rodger falls into the all-too-common trap of suggesting that
treatment and harm reduction are mutually exclusive.

Addiction is a disease and, like many diseases, has complex social,
behavioural and cultural underpinnings. The success rate for
addiction treatment is about the same as for other chronic relapsing
medical conditions -- which is to say, considerably less than 100 per cent.

There is a gap between treatment needs and treatment supply and
treatment providers may not be trained in, or offering, a full range
of effective treatments. Harm reduction is therefore a necessary
bridge, offering health contacts and disease reduction to individuals
who have yet to engage in treatment, cannot access it or are
relapsing from treatment.

The literature is also clear: Offering harm reduction in our current
setting does not prolong addiction or make treatment less likely.
Insite, Vancouver's supervised injection site, has been shown to
increase treatment uptake by 30 per cent.

What we do need, in addition to harm reduction programs, is
additional effective treatment capacity.

Dr. Perry Kendall

Provincial health officer

Victoria