SAFE INJECTION SITE NURSE RECEIVES AWARD

VANCOUVER - The nurse who set up an unauthorized safe injection
site for intravenous drug users on Vancouver's seedy Downtown Eastside
has been honoured with an inter human rights award.

Megan Oleson and Pivot Legal Society, also of Vancouver, are the joint
Canadian recipients of the 2004 Awards for Action on HIV/AIDS and
Human Rights presented by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the
New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Several months prior to the September 2003 opening of a Health
Canada-approved safe injection site, Oleson opened an unauthorized
site which drew police scrutiny. Oleson supervised injections, taught
drug users safe practices and referred users to services they
required. The site operated for about six months.