VANCOUVER OPENS FIRST AUTHORIZED DRUG INJECTION SITE

VANCOUVER - While some of its potential clients huddled nearby, North America's
first authorized drug-injection site had its long-awaited official
opening Monday.

The so-called safe-injection site won't be open to addicts for a week
or so, but its political backers greeted the move with whoops and cheers.

But there were also emotional memories of addicts killed by overdoses
and disease caused by drug use.

"The first thing that went through my head is the huge number of
people that have died and the number that I saw and had to deal with
their families," said Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell.

As city coroner, Campbell was often called to the poverty-stricken
Downtown Eastside, where a vacant building was renovated to house the
new safe-injection site.

The controversial government-funded project, which will give users
injection kits and allow them to shoot up inside under nurse
supervision, won't end addiction, said Campbell, but he predicted it
will soon make a visible difference.

"Most importantly, we won't have to take people out of these hotels
time and time again," said Campbell, referring to the run-down
buildings that dot the crumbling neighbourhood.

Thirty-seven people have died already from overdoses in Vancouver this
year, he said.

Drug users sometimes will use dirty needles and water from puddles to
shoot up. Now, addicts wanting to use the new facility will be ushered
into a brightly-lit room lined on one side by open, mirrored booths
where they can inject drugs.

After finishing, they will be taken to a "chill out room," where they
can receive counselling and peer referrals.

On Monday morning, knots of raggedly dressed people huddled at a
street corner just metres from the new site.

One long-time drug user said he hoped the pilot project would make a
difference in his neighbourhood.

Steven Bannon, 43, said he knows too many people who have died from
diseases acquired through drug use.

"A person who chooses to use the injection site, the main thing, I
think, is less risk of HIV," said the soft-spoken man.

Melody Kitchener, 41, said she would be comfortable using the
injection site.

"I've used on the street, but I don't like to," said Kitchener, who
has been using drugs for 28 years. "You know what they say, it's not a
good idea to use alone."

Health Canada has committed $1.5 million to pay for research during
the pilot project and the B.C. government will also give $2 million to
help cover costs.