HARPER UNDER GUN TO KILL INSITE

It is inconceivable that Stephen Harper will not approve the
continuation of Vancouver's supervised injection site.

The medical evidence is overwhelming that this three-year experiment,
where drug addicts are provided a clean, safe place to inject illegal
drugs, is a success.

There have been more than 20 peer review articles in the most
prestigious medical journals that support the notion the site is
working. According to the primary funding agency, Vancouver Coastal
Health Authority, it is the most examined experiment of its sort in the world.

Last week, researchers at the Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
seemed to surprise even themselves when they reported in the New
England Journal of Medicine that the number of people who used the
site and then went on to enter detoxification programs and seek
treatment far exceeded those in the general population.

"The more regular use of the facility, known as Insite, and any
contact with the facility's addictions counsellor, were both strongly
tied to quicker initiation into detoxification," they wrote.

There are more than 600 visits a day to the site. There would be even
more if money was provided to keep it open beyond 18 hours a day.
Even so, among regular users needle-sharing and the resulting spread
of diseases has been reduced. People are regularly rescued from
overdosing by staff at the site.

In spite of all the glowing reviews, bureaucrats are still twitchy
that Harper will just say no. The current agreement runs out in
September. What is involved from Ottawa is both money and permission.
Insite needs an exemption under the federal law that prohibits the
possession and consumption of illegal drugs. Ottawa also provides
funds to assess the program. Last time around that came to about $1.5 million.

The application for renewal was filed with the federal Ministry of
Health more than a month ago. It was accompanied by letters of
support from the mayor's office and the Vancouver Police Department.
The cops would say the level of public disorder in the area has
declined because of the project and the level of criminal activity
has not increased.

According to people at this end, questions from Ottawa about the
application were minor. The only remaining hurdle is political, which
is to say Harper.

Harper has never been a fan of harm reduction or Insite. During a
campaign stop on the West Coast during the federal election, he said
no tax dollars would go to any program that involved illegal drugs.
It is a position that certainly appeals to the right wing of the Tory
party even though organizations like the Fraser Institute have argued
in favour of the economic benefits of harm reduction.

People on the ground here suspect Harper is getting pressure to
abandon the Insite project from the senior ranks of the RCMP. But
this is not simply a decision Harper will make based on domestic
considerations.

The prime minister's new best friends in the White House consider
Insite the equivalent of assisted suicide.

Plans to include an American city in the NAOMI project along with
Vancouver and Montreal, to test the results of a heroin maintenance
program, were killed before they were even started. The White House
drug czar has been pressuring Canadian governments for some time to
continue with the failed policy of the War on Drugs.

Harper may consider there is more to be gained internationally than
there is to be lost at home by shutting Insite down. Softwood lumber
could rear its head again. Then there is the threat to tighten
movements across our common border and cut the flow of tourist dollars.

He is expected in Vancouver in the next few days to welcome delegates
to the World Urban Forum. It is not inconceivable he will be asked
about Insite at that time.