INSITE MARKS SHAKY ANNIVERSARY

Despite Claims Of Success, Ottawa Still Wants To Shut It Down

When Insite, North America's first supervised drug-injection site
marks its fifth anniversary in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside
tomorrow, the celebration will be tempered with disappointment.

Despite research that shows Insite works, the federal government has
refused to support it, say members of PHS Community Service, which
runs the facility along with Vancouver Coastal Health.

"Old arguments against Insite just don't stand up against real
research," executive director Liz Evans told The Province. "It's time
to accept that supervised-injection sites are a necessary part of the
comprehensive plan needed to seriously address drug addiction." "It's
time for Stephen Harper to listen to the evidence and put public
health before politics," said PHS spokesman Mark Townsend.

Insite has been the subject of more than 30 peer-reviewed studies and
several government-commissioned reports that show it has a positive
impact in the community, has taken more than a million injections off
city streets, has intervened in more than 850 overdoses, has reduced
transmission of HIV and hepatitis C and does not attract new drug users.

Townsend said it is "disappointing" to be constantly fighting the
battle against Ottawa, despite support from the municipal and
provincial governments and nearly 80 per cent of doctors in the
Canadian Medical Association.

"The sad part of it is, there's lots more to do," said Townsend.
"We've opened detox beds, we're trying to establish therapeutic
[services] with horse therapy. We run a dental clinic and a medical
clinic, but our time gets sucked up trying to keep [Insite] on the
table." In addition to Insite, PHS Community Services also operates
Onsite's 12 detox beds and several transitional beds for patients
waiting to get into a long-term treatment facility.

Insite, which sees about 600 to 1,100 users daily, has operated in
the Downtown Eastside since 2003 under an exemption from the federal
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

The permit had already been extended twice when in May, the B.C.
Supreme Court granted it a constitutional exemption.

The federal government is appealing the decision, with the case
scheduled to be heard in April 2009.

Meanwhile, federal candidates on the campaign trail have offered
words of support.

The Liberals have promised to renew Insite's federal licence as part
of their made-in-B.C. platform. Green Party leader Elizabeth May has
also pledged support.

Townsend said it shouldn't matter who is in power.

"We don't see it as a political issue," he said. "No matter who's in
power, you need to know a health issue like this isn't politically
interfered with." Invited speakers at tomorrow's news conference
include Dr. Julio Montaner, president of the International AIDS
Society, and Prof. Neil Boyd of Simon Fraser University.