B.C. DRUG INJECTION CLINIC CAN STAY OPEN, SUPREME COURT RULES

The Supreme Court of Canada on Friday overrode federal objections to
a controversial supervised drug injection clinic in Vancouver and
ordered that it remain open.

The Court said that the Harper government cannot refuse a special
exemption allowing the clinic to operate without fear of prosecution
for possessing and trafficking in hard drugs.

The landmark ruling was a life-saving triumph for the Insite
injection site, where drug users self-inject drugs under the
supervision of health professionals.

It resolves a major source of tension between B.C. and the federal
government, and appears to pave the way for other supervised
injections clinics to open in cities where drug addiction is a social
and medical problem.

Insite was launched in 2003 under a special exemption from
prosecution. The federal government maintained the exemption until
2008, when the Harper government became disenchanted with the notion
of providing addicts with legally sanctioned hard drugs.

The move forged an immediate alliance between drug users, the medical
community and across the province's political spectrum. A coalition
of groups wasted little time in asking the Courts to clear the way
for Insite to continue operating.

Supported by the B.C. attorney-general, the coalition were successful
in persuading the B.C. Supreme Court and the British Columbia Court
of Appeal to find Insite immune from the criminal prosecution under
the doctrine of "inter-jurisdictional immunity."

By allowing the province to override federal anti-drug concerns, the
judgment constitutes a slap in the face to the Harper government in a
case had evolved into a major constitutional brawl between the two
levels of government.

"It is a classic battle between the federal and provincial
governments over the limits of two powers - criminal law and health
care - which are mutually exclusive but have obviously conflicted in
this case," said Carissima Mathen, a law professor at University of Ottawa.

Prof. Mathen said the federal government gambled by wading into
battle with the B.C. government, risking the erosion of its criminal
law powers.

The Court was faced with two questions. Did the withdrawal of
Insite's exemption violate the Charter of Rights by exposing users to
greater harm by forcing them to purchase street drugs? Is it unjust
to prosecute addicts who have no real choice of avoiding criminal behaviour?

Nervous medical staff had arrived for work at the clinic today
uncertain whether its doors would close forever. Medical staff,
addicts and groups supporting the clinic had made it clear that if
the Court were to rule against it, they would bombard the Harper
government with demands to let Insite remain open.

"Stephen Harper will have an important choice before him," said one
of the plaintiffs in the legal action, Shelly Tomic. "He can choose
life - or he can choose death for thousands of Canadians suffering
while struggling to overcome their addiction."

The B.C. Health Ministry, which funds the facility, has cited
numerous studies that showed Insite's effectiveness in connecting
vulnerable, at-risk injection drug users with health services.
Vancouver Police also report no risk to the public from the site's
operation in the heart of the Downtown Eastside.

Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in
HIV/Aids, said on Thursday that health professional are able to
access hard-to-reach drug users at the facility to enlist them in
aggressive anti-HIV treatment. He noted that B.C. is the only
province in Canada where the rate of HIV infection is going down.

"So, from our perspective, the benefits of Insite to those infected
and to the community at large are irrefutable," he said. "We have
every expectation that we will continue this kind of service for the
long haul."

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More related to this story

* The arguments for and against Vancouver's supervised injection site
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-politics/the-arguments-for-and-against-vancouvers-supervised-injection-site/article2019113/

* Who's using at Vancouver's supervised injection site
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/whos-using-at-vancouvers-supervised-injection-site/article2019054/

* Insite's next battle: supervised inhalation
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-politics/insites-next-battle-supervised-inhalation/article2021966/

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