POLICE DENY HARASSMENT AT ILLEGAL INJECTION SITE

The Vancouver Police Department says the operators of the city's illegal
safe injection site lied to the media with their claims officers forced
their way into the building early Monday morning.

The safe injection site at 327 Carrall St. has operated since April 7, the
day police announced a crackdown in the drug infested Downtown Eastside. The
site is open every night between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. and provides free
needles, a drop-in space and an area at the back of the building where
addicts can shoot-up.

In a prepared statement, Megan Oleson-a registered nurse who supervises the
operation-said that at 1:24 a.m. Monday, three police officers forced their
way into the site then questioned and detained people.

Oleson said police have harassed people using the site every night since it
opened, adding the number of needles handed out decreases when the police
are near the site.

"When users are discouraged from using a safe injection site drug harm is
increased. The VPD is exacerbating the health problems for a population
already alienated from most health and addiction services," Oleson said.

The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users and the Downtown Eastside Youth
Activities Society currently distribute about three million needles in the
community each year.

Const. Sarah Bloor, VPD spokeswoman, denied three police officers forced
their way into the site.

"Some of the information provided to the media is fabrication. That's how
we've assessed it. There are no grounds to what they are suggesting occurred
and we have no idea why they put this information out," Bloor said.

The police's version is that one of the officers put his head in the door of
the site and called out if anybody was inside. The officer was concerned
after hearing loud music coming from within and seeing a woman collapsed on
a couch outside the door.

"Nobody responded. He walked in and said hello and a woman came out from the
back. They had a polite, civil conversation. There was nothing to it," Bloor
said. "Then a male came from the back and was quite confrontational and said
that he wanted to see a warrant and went off from there. The officers said
they were just there to tell them about the loud music and the woman out
front. That's it. They were there less than two minutes and they left."

Geoff Meggs, spokesman for mayor Larry Campbell, said the mayor has
requested the police not interfere with the operation of the illegal safe
injection site unless it is a public nuisance.

Meggs said the mayor has not heard that the site is a public nuisance.