BE SAFE FROM LAWSUITS

Re: Safe injection site a public health measure, Aug. 1.

If I serve someone an alcoholic drink and that person subsequently is
involved in an accident, I may end up in court. In a current lawsuit, it
will be argued that Gatineau city staff should have known a tree on a
toboggan slope was a hazard.

What are the legal issues associated with a safe injection site? If I were
mugged by an addict who frequented such a site, I'd be tempted to claim
that the people operating it should have foreseen the likelihood of such an
attack. Drug addicts endanger others in order to feed their habit.

What of the parents of a son or daughter who dies of an overdose? Are they
justified in claiming the person who provided the needle used to deliver
the fatal dose is partially responsible for the tragedy?

I hope such questions will be addressed in the study of how a safe
injection site would work in Ottawa.

William Armstrong,

Ottawa