CHALLENGE TO INSITE A SHAME

Bob fed the heroin habit he picked up in prison by selling stuff out
of a shopping cart on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

His life changed for the better after meeting a staff member from
Insite, North American's only legal supervised injection site.

Located in the heart of one of Canada's poorest neighbourhoods, the
facility helped the 50-something find assistance, rent an apartment
and visit a doctor, who prescribed him methadone as an alternative to
street drugs.

Months later, Bob spent more time looking for work than his next fix
and was weaning himself off methadone.

Bob's change for the better is one of almost a dozen profiled in
Insight: Stories from the Supervised Injection Site. It was published
in 2006, three years after the facility began operating under a
temporary exemption from federal drug laws.

Since then, Insite has offered more than 12,000 clients a safe, clean
place to use their drugs -- mostly heroin, cocaine and morphine.
Professional nursing staff are on hand to provide first aid in the
event an overdose, while addictions counsellors, mental health workers
and other staff direct clients to community services.

The facility has been the subject of more than 30 studies that have
appeared in reputable journals, such as the British medical journal
The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine, among others.

These studies have concluded the facility provides a range of
benefits, including fewer overdoses and greater use of detox services.

Insite has helped people like Bob turn their lives around. Why, then,
is the federal government so adamant that it must be shut down?

In short, the Conservatives consider Insite to be an "abomination" and
that its harm reduction strategy is a sham.

It back up its assertions with an article by Colin Mangham, director
of research for the Drug Prevention Network of Canada, which
challenges the findings of other studies while concluding Insite has
failed to have an impact on drug use on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

What the government fails to mention is that Mangham's article was
commissioned and financed by the RCMP and published on a spurious
website alleged to be "posing as open-access, peer-reviewed scientific
journal." The article itself was dismissed by more than 130 scientists
as "fraught with a host of outright factual inaccuracies and
unsubstantiated claims."

The International Journal of Drug Policy went one step further,
concluding that the federal government's decision to base its
objections to Insite on such flawed evidence could be construed as "a
serious breach of international scientific standards."

This week, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and five of his
predecessors issued an open letter to the Conservative government to
reconsider its opposition. They firmly believe the facility saves
lives, reduces the transmission of deadly diseases and increases the
use of addiction treatment.

One former mayor, Phillip Owen, fears Insite's closure would result
in a return to 1990s Vancouver: a city characterized by rampant
public drug use and rapid spread of HIV infections.

When public support failed to persuade the Conservative government to
grant Insite a permanent exemption, the organization that operates
facility with provincial funding turned to the courts.

Portland Hotel Society argued that Insite is a health-care facility;
therefore, it falls under provincial jurisdiction. The B.C. Supreme
Court and the B.C. Court of Appeal agreed.

The Conservatives appealed that decision to the Supreme Court of
Canada, which will begin hearing arguments this week for and against
the continued operation of Insite.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court will decide Insite's fate. That is,
unless the Conservative government comes to its senses and accepts the
scientific evidence and public support for Insite.

Withdrawing its appeal and granting the facility a permanent exemption
from federal drug laws would allow Insite to focus on its clients
rather than fighting for survival.

If not, then the Conservative government should outline its plans for
Insite's clients.

During a speech to the Canadian Medical Association in 2007, former
health minister Tony Clement suggested harm reduction could take many
forms, including prevention, treatment and enforcement.

Given that the Conservative government is set to spend up to $10
billion over the next five years to reform the country's prison
system, Insite's clients can expect to spend more time behind bars and
less in detox.

And that's no option at all because it would create a new generation
of addicts like Bob who could benefit from the services provided by a
facility like Insite.