OVERDOSES CALLED SIGN OF SUCCESS IN SHOOTING GALLERY

Supporters Of Legal Injection Site Say High Numbers Prove It Is Saving
Lives

VANCOUVER -- In the sterilized cubicles of North America's only legal
shooting gallery, more than 100 drug overdoses occurred over a
six-month period, proof, say its supporters, that it's a resounding
public health success story.

None of the 107 overdoses resulted in death. And the 72 drug users who
suffered them were within striking range of a medical professional
trained to assist, according to the first evaluation of Vancouver's
supervised injection site.

Researchers hired to assess the clinic's impact over a three-year
period say the high number of overdoses at the supervised injection
site is good news and shows it has saved lives.

Before the clinic opened last year in the heart of Vancouver's skid
row, those addicts would have been shooting up in alleys, isolated
hotel rooms and public bathrooms, the researchers said. Many would
have died.

"There's a pretty reasonable expectation that some of those overdose
incidents would have been fatal if they occurred somewhere else," said
Dr. David Marsh of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.

"In all incidents, the persons survived with no lasting
consequence."

Yesterday's report is the first evaluation of the supervised injection
clinic since it opened in September of 2003. The site is a three-year,
$3.7-million pilot project funded by Health Canada and the B.C.
government. Researchers at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
prepared the report.

The clinic is open 18 hours a day and is for injection drug users
only. Each patron who signs in is provided with a clean set of
utensils. The end goal is to reduce overdose death rates and slow the
spread of diseases caused by drug use, such as AIDS and hepatitis.

Apart from the overdoses, the report showed the clinic is heavily
used, with nearly 600 visits a day.

City leaders, including the mayor, say the high numbers mean Vancouver
needs more services for addicts. Earlier this week, Mayor Larry
Campbell said the site should expand to make room for crack users as
well.

A so-called crack room would provide users with clean pipes and space
to smoke. An exemption from criminal prosecution from Health Canada
would be needed.

The report also enrolled 677 clients in a survey, providing a snapshot
of the average clinic patron. The average age is 39. Seventy per cent
are male, 69 per cent are white, and 21 per cent are aboriginal. The
majority are single, and just over half of those surveyed have a
high-school education.

Nearly 70 per cent live in the Downtown Eastside and 22 per cent are
homeless. The average client visits the clinic 11 times a month.

The report said drug users began using the clinic as soon as it opened
last fall. Its busiest single day was July 28, 2004, with 845
injections in an 18-hour period.

Over the past six months, the number of visits has increased steadily.
In March, there were 11,269 visits. By August, that number had
increased to 18,226.

Don McPherson, the co-ordinator of Vancouver's drug policy, said he
too was buoyed by the high overdose numbers and hoped to see it increase.

"The more we can get inside, the better," Mr. McPherson said. "Better
in there [the clinic] than in the back alleys."

However, it's unclear if the high overdose numbers at the clinic
translate into saved lives, because no one was counting overdoses in
the city before the injection site opened. The only number tracked was
overdose deaths.

However, the number of clinic users referred to drug treatment is a
tiny fraction of those who came through the front door.

Of the tens of thousands of people who used the clinic over a
six-month period, staff made 78 referrals to drug treatment programs
and 262 to addiction counselling.

The clinic opened in September of 2003 after years of lobbying by
activists and despite opposition from surrounding neighbourhoods and
business associations.

Police were skeptical at first and feared the site would attract drug
dealers. However, the clinic has not increased crime or public
disorder, Vancouver Police spokeswoman Constable Sarah Bloor said.

But Constable Bloor said police don't support calls for a crack room
unless it too obtains a special exemption from Health Canada.