KEEP SAFE INJECTION SITE OPEN-CHIEF

Police Chief Jamie Graham has told the director general of Health
Canada's drug strategy the police support a three-year extension of
the supervised injection site on East Hastings Street.

In an April 21 letter to Beth Pieterson, Graham wrote that the
Vancouver Police Department has worked with the Vancouver Coastal
Health Authority and "our government partners" to develop a
coordinated approach to the issues facing the Downtown Eastside.

"This coordination has had successes and we hope to continue to build
on these...," Graham wrote in a letter included in an agenda package
for the May 17 Vancouver Police Board meeting.

Graham called Insite at 139 East Hastings, which opened in September
2003, an "important project" that supports the continuation of the
city's Four Pillars drug strategy-harm reduction, enforcement,
treatment and prevention.

Insite is a scientific research project and the only legal injection
site in North America. The facility operates under an exemption from
Canada's drug laws. The exemption expires in September.

"Our organization's primary responsibilities are safety and public
order," Graham said. "The project will enable us to assess whether
these kinds of initiatives contribute to the dismantling of the open
drug scene in the Downtown Eastside. We are advised that more time is
needed to properly evaluate the outcomes of this project and for that
reason we support the [health authority's] application for an extension."

A provincial steering committee that oversees the injection site also
sent a letter to Health Canada last November requesting Insite either
continue as a research project or simply become a service for addicts.

Dr. Perry Kendall, chair of the committee and the province's medical
health officer, told the Courier in November that letter suggested
Insite could be exempted as a medical service and that ongoing
evaluations were needed.

The VPD continues to arrest drug users who refuse to use the facility.
Last fall, police launched a campaign to crack down on drug users who
openly inject in public.

That crackdown was stepped up in February when police announced they
would arrest crack cocaine users openly smoking the drug in public.
Police have arrested drug users in parks and on school grounds.

"My staff has been working on the front line with the [health
authority] to ensure that both enforcement and health related goals
are addressed in this project," Graham concluded his letter.

Health Canada hasn't given any indication when it will make a decision
on Insite's future. Conservative Health Minister Tony Clement has the
final authority to approve an exemption under section 56 of the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

A recent study found 336 "overdose events" occurred at Insite between
March 2004 and August 2005. An "event" is defined as an addict passing
out, turning blue or going limp and requiring the intervention of a
nurse.

No one has died at Insite, where an average of 600 injections occur
daily. The facility is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m.
Drugs are not provided, leaving the drug users to buy them illegally
on the street.