RULING SETS PRECEDENT

Similar Facilities May Crop Up Elsewhere

The Supreme Court of Canada's decision to back Insite could pave the
way for more supervised injection services in Vancouver itself and
elsewhere in the province and the country.

On Friday morning, Canada's top court struck down the federal
government's 2008 decision to deny Insite a special health exemption
from criminal law, which allowed the only supervised injection site in
North America to operate without legal repercussions.

The judges said the Conservative government's refusal to extend the
exemption was "arbitrary," and unconstitutional because it
compromised the health and safety of drug users in Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside.

The court's support for Insite effectively legitimizes a model that
can be replicated elsewhere, said Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the
B. C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/ AIDS.

The decision, however, isn't a "green light" for other communities to
open up supervised injection sites "willy-nilly," he noted,
explaining that the court was careful to restrict its discussion to
Insite only. But the decision can be used by other jurisdictions to
secure similar exemptions. The court " set a precedent," he said.

"There is a need to expand this service," Montaner said. Insite is at
capacity, and additional supervised injection sites or other " harm
reduction" measures could be implemented in the Downtown Eastside, and
elsewhere, he added.

Other communities around the province have problems with dangerous
drug use, and right now Insite is "geographically isolated," he said.
There's little dispute over the effectiveness of Insite, said Dr.
Patricia Daly, vice-president, public health, and the chief medical
health officer, Vancouver Coastal Health.

Chief medical officers from Canada's 18 largest cities believe the
evidence of its effectiveness, Daly said. "Some are quite interested
in the outcome of this court case," she said. "I suspect you'll see
some other jurisdictions apply for exemptions across Canada."

Other communities "have certainly been in touch with us for the last
number of years saying they would wait until this ruling to decide
what to do," said Liz Evans, executive director of the PHS Community
Services Society, which operates Insite.

Her organization will be looking at potential sites and considering
other "creative" options to expand harm reduction services, she added.

Other cities with the same "philosophical perspective" will have to
go through the same protocols as Insite to get a health exemption,
Evans said.

Other cities in B. C. weren't so quick to jump on board.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said her city already has a needle exchange,
a detox centre and other facilities to deal with addicts, and it would
have to assess whether an injection site would be suitable in her community.

"We don't have thousands of people in a Downtown Eastside," she said,
noting that one-third of Surrey's population is under 19. " I don't
know if that would best suit that population."

Abbotsford Mayor George Peary said while the ruling vindicates the
work being done at Insite, he doubts there will be a huge movement
toward injection sites around the province because the facility is
seen as specifically dealing with the "horrific problem in
Vancouver."