SUPERVISED INJECTION FOR THE SAKE OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Vancouver's supervised drug-injection clinic, Insite, saves lives and
prevents human misery. Providing addicts with a safe, sterile place
to inject heroin and other drugs is a pragmatic and effective way to
curb the spread of infectious disease, including HIV/AIDs and
hepatitis B and C, and to reduce substance abuse and overdoses.

Yet the federal government persists in opposing it, viewing Insite
not as a critical component of British Columbia's health-based
approach to treating addiction, but as a stark violation of criminal law.

This Thursday, when the Supreme Court of Canada hears the case, it
will weigh these opposing arguments and rule on the jurisdictional
dispute between B.C. and Ottawa, ultimately deciding the fate of the
clinic. The province's responsibility for health care must take
precedence over the Harper government's prohibitionist inclinations.

The fact is, this clinic has been operating under an exemption to
Canada's drug laws dating back to 2003. A study, published last month
in the British medical journal The Lancet, found that since the site
opened the number of overdose deaths in the immediate area has
declined by 35 per cent. This study, by the B.C. Centre for
Excellence in HIV/AIDS, confirms the findings of more than a dozen
others that outline undisputed public-health benefits from the
clinic, located in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, an impoverished
area with near-epidemic levels of disease.

Were the court to side with the federal government, the consequences
would be terrible. More addicts would overdose; fewer would
participate in detox programs; HIV and hepatitis transmission rates
would increase.

Narcotics addiction is a physiological condition. Providing addicts
with sterile needles, as well as counselling that may lead to
rehabilitation, saves the health-care system money. It also reduces
harm, resulting in fewer medical complications and fewer fatal and
non-fatal overdoses, which require police, ambulance and hospital care.

The existence of this clinic does not negatively impact on federal
narcotics control efforts. Insite is a legitimate response to a
public-health crisis. Other cities such as Victoria and Toronto are
contemplating opening supervised-injection clinics. They prevent
addicts from going into dark alleys to inject, harming themselves and
others. Insite protects the health of B.C.'s public, and should remain open.