ADDICTS INJECTING ILLEGALLY BUT SAFELY

Dr. Peter Centre Hasn't Heard Back From Police

A downtown facility for people with deteriorating health caused by
AIDS continues to operate its drug injection room without approval
from Health Canada.

The Dr. Peter Centre's three-stall injection room serves up to 50
HIV-positive clients who regularly inject illegal drugs inside the
building at Comox and Thurlow.

The federal government has known for several years that the injection
room has operated without an exemption under the country's drug laws.
But the government won't say why the centre was not granted an
exemption, which would mean nurses and clients can't be charged with
a drug crime while inside the injection room.

The government has also left the decision to shut down the site in
the hands of the Vancouver Police Department, which has not taken any
action against the centre or its clients.

Maxine Davis, the centre's executive director, pointed out there have
been no arrests or overdose deaths since the injection room opened in
February 2002.

"What public good would be served for police to enter a supervised
injection site to arrest a drug user trying to stay safe and
healthy?" Davis said.

She recently contacted the office of Vancouver Police Department
Deputy Chief Bob Rich to notify him the centre continues to operate
without Health Canada's approval.

"If they had any issues with that, I would request that they would
call and have a discussion with us rather than blind-siding us. We
haven't heard anything further than that."

Davis contacted Rich after Health Minister Tony Clement announced
Oct. 2 that Insite on East Hastings would legally be allowed to
continue operating until June 2008. Clement made no mention of the
centre's injection room.

Over the past two weeks, the Courier has left several messages with
Health Canada and Clement's office to discuss Insite and injection
drug use. So far, there has been no reply.

Davis said the centre believed it had received an exemption from
Health Canada in 2003. Vancouver Coastal Health, on behalf of the
centre, applied to Health Canada in 2002 for the exemption. The
request was included in the application for Insite, the only legal
injection site in North America, which opened in September 2003.

"It's my understanding that when the [federal health] minister was
presented with signing off on the exemption for Insite in the fall of
2006, and was advised of a second site that inadvertently did not get
signed in the first go round, that he declined to approve it," Davis
said. "I don't know why and I don't what it means."

Although possession of drugs is illegal, Davis said nurses working in
the injection room are not contravening the law. Nurses do not
provide, handle or inject the drugs, she added.

"We acknowledge that there is some risk that the police could lay
criminal charges," she said. "But even if they did, the charges
simply wouldn't stick because nurses are carrying out their
professional nursing practice standards according to their regulatory body."

The centre opened the injection room in February 2002 after
consulting with the College of Registered Nurses and the centre's
lawyer. Prior to opening the injection room, two clients overdosed at
the centre--one in a washroom, the other in a laundry room. Neither
person died but the close calls provided an impetus to open the
injection room, said Davis, adding that more than 2,000 safe
injections have occurred at the site.

The centre houses a day health program and a 24-hour care residence.
It caters to people with AIDS. About 70 per cent of clients have
either a history of using drugs or are struggling with addiction.