INSITE SAVES TWO TO 12 LIVES A YEAR, STUDY SAYS

Research Concludes Potentially Fatal Overdoses Would Have Resulted In
Death Had They Occurred Outside The Supervised Injection Site

VANCOUVER -- Vancouver's supervised injection site, where addicts can
use illegal drugs in a clean, staffed medical clinic, prevents two to
12 overdose deaths a year, according to a new research study.
Researchers arrived at their findings after evaluating more than
1,000 overdoses over a four-year period at Vancouver's Insite clinic.

Of the 1,004 overdoses recorded at the clinic between 2004 and 2008,
453 addicts suffered potentially fatal overdoses, the researchers said.

Had these overdoses occurred outside the clinic, between two and 12
of the addicts would have died each year, the study concluded. It was
written by researchers at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.

The injection site, which has the support of British Columbia
politicians and the Vancouver police, has been the target of
criticism by the federal Conservative government.

In August, Health Minister Tony Clement questioned the clinic's
usefulness, saying a government research panel concluded that the
injection site has saved - on average - one life a year since it
opened in 2003. Mr. Clement said the clinic's $3-million annual
budget would be better spent funding drug treatment centres.

One of the study's authors, Thomas Kerr, said its large range of
between two and 12 lives saved was unavoidable because it's hard to
put a figure on an event that has not occurred. Researchers studied
the death rates from overdoses in other jurisdictions in Canada, the
United States, Australia and England, and arrived at a range of
rates, said Dr. Kerr, who teaches medicine at the University of
British Columbia.

Still, Dr. Kerr said he's sure that that the injection site saves at
least a dozen lives per year. "The figure of one is laughable," Dr.
Kerr said. "I don't think any experienced clinician working in the
area ... would think that only one person is saved."