A SHOT IN THE ARM

Credit our provincial government for doing something its federal
counterpart continues to dodge and duck.

Vancouver's safe injection site, Insite, will expand in September,
courtesy of the province, to include detox beds and short-term housing.

Twelve rooms will be provided, each with its own bathroom since
detoxing involves a lot of throwing up.

Once clean, those who are homeless will be able to stay in one of 18
rooms in a third-floor temporary shelter.

Addicts will not be allowed to use drugs in either the detox centre or
the shelter, collectively dubbed Onsite.

The new facilities may go a long way towards silencing Insite's few
remaining critics -- notably the RCMP, which doesn't police Vancouver
anyway -- who say it facilitates drug use, not recovery.

Onsite now offers addicts who want to try and kick their habit what
they need: immediate help, not a two-day wait for space in another
facility during which time they will use again.

We have previously chronicled here the near unanimous support of
Insite from major medical journals whose studies clearly show the
health and social benefits that accrue from harm reduction.

But federal Health Minister Tony Clement clings stubbornly to his
ideological blinkers and continues to insist that uncertainty over the
usefulness of Insite prevents his commitment to permanent funding.

Come on, Minister. If stodgy old Victoria has done its research and
wants a similar facility, maybe you could too.