VICTORIA EYES SAFE INJECTION LOCATION

VICTORIA (CP)-- Repeated overdoses and intravenous drug-related illnesses
indicate Victoria needs a safe injection site, says B.C.'s chief medical
health doctor. "Speaking as a provincial health officer, I think it would
be appropriate," said Dr. Perry Kendall.

Diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C are spread through the sharing of
needles, and drug users are shooting up openly in public areas, Kendall said.

The city's needle exchange centre has more than 2,000 clients, he noted.

Mayor Alan Lowe has mused about making Victoria the second North American
city with an officially supervised injection site.

Vancouver was the first.

"We've been hearing about people shooting up in the alleys, people shooting
up in people's front yards, around people's businesses and schools," Lowe
told a forum on illicit drug use last week.

"In order to deal with some of those problems, we do need a safe injection
site."