'INSITE IS SAVING LIVES'

Almost two-thirds of the new HIV infections in the aboriginal
population is a result of injecting drug use. If one person, unaware
of their HIV status, shares a needle with three or four people, the
epidemic grows that rapidly.

It is absurd to argue that people would begin using drugs just because
a safe injection site is available. And the federal government fails
to understand that some people simply cannot quit their addiction.
Locking them up is not the answer. Wake up; harm reduction does work.

Kevin Barlow, executive director, Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network,
Ottawa.