CITY TO SEEK PUBLIC OPINION ON OFFERING SAFE-NEEDLE SITES

Is Toronto Ready For A Safe-Injection Drug Site?

Members of a city task force said yesterday it's time to think about
the idea -- public consultations are set for this spring -- as part of
a comprehensive strategy to reduce crack cocaine and other illegal
drugs.

"We don't have the answer," warned Councillor Kyle Rae, speaking at a
press conference to launch the public debate on a drug strategy. "We
want to hear from the community."

No decision will be made until later this year, when the task force
reports back to the board of health. Even if Toronto recommended the
idea, Ottawa would have to approve and regulate the site.

At a press conference yesterday, the controversial idea of
"safe-injection sites" attracted all the attention.

But Mr. Rae, one of the leaders in a two-year-long city project to
develop a new drug strategy, said the real issue is to find a
"made-in-Toronto" solution that blends prevention, harm reduction and
treatment measures with enforcement.

Mr. Rae, while urging a debate over safe-injection sites, was not
ready to endorse them.

"Is Toronto ready yet? I am not sure," he said, since Toronto is not
the same as Vancouver, where highly visible street addicts are
concentrated in the Downtown Eastside.

In Toronto, officials say alcohol is the most widely used substance,
but homeless young people and others on the street are at high risk
for using cannabis, crack cocaine, prescription pills -- sometimes
together.

Mr. Rae said his downtown constituents and other neighbourhoods across
the city "have reached the end of their tether and they don't see an
effective response to open drug scenes."

At the same event, Toronto medical officer of health David McKeown
said supervised safe-injection sites "could play a role as part of a
comprehensive approach."

Later, Mayor David Miller endorsed calls for a debate on the merits of
safe-injection sites. "It is something that needs to be seriously
looked at," said Mr. Miller.