HELP FOR INSITE DRUG USERS AVAILABLE ONSITE SOON

A small housing centre and day treatment program are expected to open
in September on the floors above the city's supervised injection
site, says a senior staff member of Vancouver Coastal Health.

The facilities on the second and third floors will stay open even if
the federal government decides to cancel the operating licence of
Insite, which expires in December.

"But I'm working on the assumption that Insite will continue to move
forward," said Heather Hay, director of addiction services for
Vancouver Coastal Health.

Hay said renovation and operating costs for the new facilities,
called Onsite, do not hinge on the future of Insite. The injection
site opened at 137 East Hastings in September 2003.

The Vancouver Agreement, a funding arm of all three levels of
government, and a federal government grant covered the more than
$2-million renovation to Onsite. Vancouver Coastal Health will pay
the $350,000 annual operating costs.

Mayor Sam Sullivan told the Courier earlier this month that he
considered Insite "a temporary measure" and that he wouldn't lobby
for a second site.

Hay said she hadn't heard the mayor refer to Insite as a temporary measure.

"From my understanding, he is a strong advocate of Insite right now
and is working together with us to move forward on seeking support
for [extending the operating licence]."

Onsite will offer 12 rooms on the second floor of the building and 18
on the third floor. No drugs or alcohol will be tolerated on either floor.

Hay described the second-floor area as a "pre-tox," where users of
Insite can stay for a couple of days while waiting to get into a
detox facility.

"The idea around the 'pre-tox' is that people can go from the
injection site straight upstairs and then we can begin talking to
them about movement into withdrawal management," she said. "Some
clients are sort of at a place where they're not really sure [what to
do], they know they don't want to have to go in and inject again. So
we're going to try and provide them with some respite so they can
think through what the next step is."

The third floor will provide a day treatment program and a client
could potentially stay in a room for up to 18 months. Keeping a
client interested in obtaining treatment is essential, Hay added.

"While we've made a lot of improvements in our access to [drug]
withdrawal management, there's still often a one-to three-day wait
period. And for these folks, it's just too long for them to wait and
we don't want to lose them to care."

Presently, when an addict walks into Insite, that person has access
to alcohol, drug and peer counsellors and mental health workers. But
if Insite staff are unable to find a person shelter or detox
immediately, that person is back on the street, Hay said.

"The risk of losing that client to care is still significant because
many of the clients think, 'Oh, forget it.' We have a small window
and if they're going to have to wait even 48 hours, for them,
sometimes it's a very long timeline."