INSITE RULING SHOULD NOT BE SUBJECT TO ANOTHER APPEAL

Re: B.C. court rules Vancouver's Insite safe injection site can stay
open, Jan. 15

Addiction should be treated as a health issue, not as a criminal
problem. Insite has a proven record of reducing death from misuse of
drugs, and in bringing addicts in contact with help for dealing with
their addiction. It could serve as a model for harm reduction countrywide.

Despite rulings by both the British Columbia Supreme Court and the
British Columbia Court of Appeals that reinforce the importance of
the health interventions of Insite, the federal government announced
on Feb. 9, 2010 that it will appeal these rulings to the Supreme
Court of Canada.

The first principle of Canadian Unitarians is "the inherent worth and
dignity of every person." This includes those among us unfortunate
enough to have fallen victim to drug addiction.

We, representing the Canadian Unitarian Council, urge the government
to reverse the decision to refer the issue to the Supreme Court of
Canada, and allow the present court judgments to stand.

John Hopewell

President,

Canadian Unitarian Council,

Toronto