VICTORIA PLANS SAFE-INJECTION SITES

City Seeks Federal Approval For As Many As Three Locations For Addicts

VICTORIA (CP) -- The City of Victoria plans to go ahead with an
application to open not just one, but as many as three safe-injection
sites for drug addicts in the B.C. capital.

Mayor Alan Lowe said he hopes to request a legal exemption from the
federal government for the three-year pilot project by the end of the year.

He made the pledge Tuesday after the Centre for Addictions Research
of B.C. delivered a feasibility study on the Victoria proposal, which
is similar to a safe-injection site in Vancouver.

Report author Benedikt Fischer said he considered the experience of
dozens of other sites around the world, along with data and opinion
collected from the local community.

The report says supervised drug-consumption sites prevent overdose
deaths and reduce the spread of disease, in addition to steering more
people toward detox and rehabilitation.

But Dr. Fischer notes that "such a program will not make sense if the
long-term, backup services in terms of detoxification, addiction
treatment, resources and care facilities are not available or
accessible to the target population."

He said two or three sites would be a better fit for Victoria than
the single-site model in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

"We should be realistic about what can be and what cannot be expected
from a supervised consumption site," Dr. Fischer said. "They are not
a measure that can realistically reduce drug-related crime or
completely eliminate the health problems [from] illicit drug use or
cure them of addiction."

Murray Fyfe of the Vancouver Island Health Authority said health
officials support the study's findings in principle but he notes
there is no discussion in the report of alternatives outside a legal
exemption allowing the site.

Dr. Fyfe said the authority's position "is that we will continue to
provide the best evidenced programs for mental-health addictions and
for harm reduction that are within the permitted law."

The mayor said it's time for the federal government to show some
leadership on the issue, noting that the Stephen Harper Conservatives
have been reluctant to endorse safe-injection sites.

"We're hoping to enlighten [the government]," Mr. Lowe said. "I think
everybody has to take a look at new ways of doing things."