POLICE, MAYOR OPPOSE SAFE INJECTION SITE

Doctor Ready to Lead Effort to Open Location for 6,000 Ottawa IV Drug
Users and Fight HIV 'Health Crisis'

A prominent Ottawa doctor says he's ready to lead an effort to bring a
safe injection site for drug addicts to the nation's capital. But
he'll have to overcome strong opposition from Ottawa's mayor and chief
of police first.

In an interview following Friday's Supreme Court ruling that rejected
the federal government's efforts to shut down Vancouver's Insite
injection facility, Dr. Mark Tyndall, head of The Ottawa Hospital's
division of infectious diseases, said "the time is now" to offer a
similar service here.

"The supervised site has been an overwhelmingly important and
successful intervention in Vancouver, and I think Ottawa could benefit
from a similar facility," said Tyndall, a former co-lead investigator
at Insite who moved to Ottawa 10 months ago.

Ottawa has "possibly the highest rate of new HIV infections among drug
users in all Canada," he said. "There's a health crisis going right
here and as people tiptoe around the issues, time is running out for
some people."

Tyndall said many of Ottawa's addicts are abusing prescription drugs
such as OxyContin, Percocet and morphine. "They're traded like money
on the streets."

Offering the city's estimated 6,000 intravenous drug users a clean,
safe and legal place in the downtown core to inject drugs would be a
"very important component" of a strategy to combat HIV infection and
transmission, he said.

But Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and police Chief Vern White quickly lined
up in opposition to the idea.

"I do not support locating a safe injection site in Ottawa, and was
very clear about that in the last election," Watson said in a
statement released by his office.

The mayor said his priority is to continue the work he started as
minister of health promotion in Ontario's Liberal government and
provide funds and support to drug prevention programs. "Using scarce
public health dollars for these drug treatment centres will continue
to be my focus when it comes to helping young people addicted to drugs."

White warned that such a facility would have "an extreme negative
impact" on nearby residents, including a heightened risk to public
safety.

During visits to Insite in the past, "I certainly didn't feel as safe
in that area of Vancouver as I did in other areas of Vancouver," White
said. "I've spoken to police officers who will say the same thing."

Insite has been operating since 2003 under a special federal exemption
to the Controlled Drug and Substances Act. In 2008, Tony Clement, then
minister of health, refused to extend Insite's exemption, triggering a
legal battle resolved by Friday's Supreme Court ruling.

The court found the federal government's action violated Section 7 of
the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects the life, liberty
and security of individual Canadians. It ordered an immediate
exception for Insite, allowing the facility to remain open
indefinitely.

The ruling has opened the door for more injection sites in Canadian
cities, including Ottawa.

Tyndall said he's already discussed the possibility of opening an
injection site with some city councillors, whom he declined to name.
"Everything's kind of off the record," he said, adding: "I wasn't told
the door was closed, but nobody's come forward and said they'd
spearhead this."

That's one reason he's prepared to take on a leadership role, he said.
"What I have is experience with this from another city." But, he said,
"clearly it would be a group effort. There's a lot of good people
doing good things in Ottawa right now, and I'm slowly meeting them
over time."

Before an injection site could open in Ottawa, city council would have
to zone a property for that use. And someone - presumably the
provincial Ministry of Health - would have to fund it. Insite's annual
budget is about $1.5 million a year.

But Tyndall said those costs are insignificant compared to the
potential savings to the health care system. The health consequences
of drug addiction "are just outrageous." One week in hospital for an
overdosed addict can cost upwards of $100,000.

Tyndall said an Ottawa site should also have facilities to test and
treat people for HIV, something now lacking here. "The supervised site
would be an excellent way to connect with people who are not currently
in any kind of care and treatment."

Because experience shows that drug addicts won't travel long distances
to use injection sites, any facility in Ottawa would have to be
centrally located, most likely in the ByWard Market area, Tyndall said.

He acknowledged that could be a problem. "I'm sure the city wants to
make that the diamond of their city and have it very attractive to
tourists. But these kind of things really help the community."

White said he'd be "absolutely blown away" if many downtown residents
would welcome a safe injection site in their neighbourhood.

Before the government issues any new exemptions, he said, it should
carefully consider the safety of the public in surrounding areas.

White's opposition is a serious impediment for those hoping to open an
injection site here. For such a facility to succeed, there has to be
some co-operation with police, Tyndall said. "It doesn't mean they
have to fully endorse it, but they are in a position to undermine
things by just arresting people in front of the site or in the site."

But White indicated that's exactly what city police would do. "I'm not
going to have a no-go zone for trafficking of drugs, and that's what
it literally is," he said. "People are allowed to possess and traffic
in drugs in a small area. I don't see that as a positive thing for
this city or any other city in this country."

The chief acknowledged that Ottawa, like all Canadian cities, has a
"real problem" with drug addiction, particularly crack cocaine. But he
said not enough is being done to deal with the root causes, including
homelessness and mental health issues, or to provide necessary treatment.

Tyndall said people "who don't really understand drug use and
addiction" still believe the problem can be controlled with a
combination of heavy law enforcement and treatment.

"That experience has been done in Canada and elsewhere for decades,
and it's not working."

While Insite is the only supervisedinjection site in North America,
similar facilities are common in Europe and Australia, Tyndall said.
"Nobody thinks twice about it anymore."