HUGE DROP IN DRUG DEATHS NEAR INSITE

35-Per-Cent Decline Shows 'People Will Die' If Dtes Facility Is Closed: Author

A study published Monday in The Lancet showing a sharp drop in
illicit drug overdose deaths near Vancouver's supervised injection
site should put an end to the debate over its future, says the
study's senior author.

Dr. Thomas Kerr told The Province the peer-reviewed study clearly
shows that if Insite is closed, "people will die."

Coming in the middle of a federal election campaign and less than a
month before a Supreme Court appeal initiated by the federal
government, the study is compelling.

The federal government is challenging a B.C. Appeal Court decision
that determined Insite is a health facility and therefore falls under
provincial jurisdiction.

The Conservative government has indicated it wants to close the site
by ending its exemption from federal drug laws.

Researchers at the Urban Health Research Initiative found a
35-percent reduction in overdose deaths in the immediate vicinity of
Insite following its opening in 2003.

In contrast, overdose deaths across the rest of Vancouver dropped
only nine per cent over the same period.

"I was somewhat surprised by the results," said Kerr. "I was
expecting we'd see a reduction -there have been numerous overdoses
[at Insite] and no deaths -but I wasn't expecting such a dramatic reduction."

Researchers reviewed about 300 coroner's reports documenting overdose
deaths in Vancouver between January 2001 and December 2005.

Deaths were sorted geographically into two categories -those within
500 metres of Insite and those elsewhere in the city.

Overdose mortality rates were calculated for each category before and
after the site's opening, revealing the greater decrease in the
Downtown Eastside.

The study was first submitted to The Lancet, one of the world's
leading medical journals, over a year ago, said Kerr. It was revised
and resubmitted about three times.

"There's no way we could have known it would be published in the
middle of a federal election," he said.

But Kerr is hopeful the study will have an impact on the Supreme
Court of Canada case scheduled to be heard on May 12. "Given that
Insite saves lives, this case is not only embarrassing [for Canada]
but unethical as well.

"This is a matter of life and death and we are obligated as a society
to base our decisions on scientific evidence," said Kerr.

B.C.'s provincial health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, said the study
leaves little room for doubt that "harmreduction initiatives such as
supervised injection facilities save lives."