INJECTION SITES BENEFIT SOCIETY

It's time Victoria took a serious look at supervised injection sites.

The Insite program operating out of Vancouver as North Americas first ever
site, has proven to have a positive impact on combating a universal problem.

With an average of around 600 visits per day, the site was flooded with
usage. And this just isn't heroin users, but cocaine, morphine, crystal
meth, crack and a host of other users, who used the site on a daily basis.

Referrals to counselors, prevention of fatal overdoses and helping contain
the spread of HIV/AIDS are the main objectives of these sites. When the
pilot program took off in March of 2004, there were 107 overdoses that
occurred between the months of March and August of that year. So basically,
107 lives were saved within the span of six months.

After a full-year of service, Insite provided a safe haven for over 3,000
substance abusers. Not only does this program save lives, but it allows the
powers at be to monitor and keep track of who's using the system. This
allows accurate reports on who is at risk, and how to deal with the
problem. The Vancouver Police were also on board, showing a sign of tolerance.

Denying programs situated around combating drug problems, however
alternative or unsystematic they may be sends the wrong message as a stern,
inflexible government when we should exhibit tolerance and express
compassion for those less fortunate.

Addiction is something we all deal with. Supervised injection sites do not
promote the use of hard drugs but rather offer real-life alternatives on
the road to recovery. Simply enforcing laws, handing out stiffer and
stiffer sentences to users does not work. Its track record speaks for
itself. The drug trade has been around forever. The idea behind this
"tolerated law-breaking" is a much different, more adaptive approach that
has its ear to the ground of modern society.

It's easy for someone to say supervised-injection sites promote drug use.
They offer a haven for addicts to shoot up safely. Safe injections site are
much more of a multi-layered approach that critics give it credit for.
Users are given exemption to the law because other forms of punishment have
been proven un-useful. This adaptive approach is something we should
applaud, not scrutinize. When a portion of society is unresponsive to a
law, harsher punishments may work in some cases, but they may also create
their own problems in the process.

If anything is wrong with the program, it's the lack of detox treatments
centres that referrals from Insite can go to. We should use supervised
injection sites as a last resource, on a chain-link of steps towards
recovery, not as an independent deterrent.

The Canadian Medical Association, a national organization of physicians has
been behind this project from the get-go.

Sending mixed messages is the main argument against supervised injection
sites. The message we send when we allow this type of program to operate is
simple: we are willing to work with you, the addict, in any way possible,
to help you kick your addiction. If that means giving you a place to shoot
up, then so be it. Simply trying to sweep these people under the rug has
proven ineffective and now is the time for reformative applied approaches.

The idea is to save lives. It's time we take our head out of this ostrich
hole and start dealing with societies problems with real-time solutions,
not archaic punishment and traditional governance