SAFE INJECTION SITES NEEDED FOR AFGHANI JUNK

Council will fast-track zoning approval for trial safe injection sites to
help counter a flood of heroin expected to come from Afghanistan, which is
again growing poppies.

Donald MacPherson, the city's Drug Policy Coordinator, said the only action
the city can take to deal with the expected increase in heroin supply is to
ensure there are as many harm reduction programs in place as possible.

Last Thursday, council backed MacPherson's request that the city's planning
department speed up the permit process to establish trial safe injection
sites.

"We've made some progress reducing health risks for injection drug users,
but external variables, like the post-Taliban, Afghanistan heroin crop that
may hit Vancouver in the coming months, will require trial safe injection
sites to be in place," said MacPherson, who co-authored former Mayor Philip
Owen's Framework for Action: A Four Pillars Approach to Drug Problems in
Vancouver.

The framework includes 36 harm reduction actions, including the
establishment of trial safe injection sites.

MacPherson said it is common knowledge that Afghanistan has returned to
growing poppies after the Taliban-ousted last year by U.S. and British
forces-had banned production in 2000.

Prior to the ban, Afghanistan was the world's largest supplier of heroin,
providing three-quarters of the world's opium.

Dr. Perry Kendall, B.C.'s Provincial Health Officer, said the Taliban was
given a United Nations Narcotic Control Board award in 2000 for successfully
cutting opium production.

"When the Taliban was ousted it was obvious the warlords were allowing opium
to come back into production. It's one of the ironies of the whole
situation," Kendall said.

Poppy crops are planted in the fall and harvested in spring, which means
Vancouver can expect the heroin to arrive shortly after.

Kendall said studies show overdose rates are directly related to supply.

"I don't know if there's a lot we can do about the expected increase, aside
from making sure the harm reduction efforts are in place," he said.

MacPherson said there were 54 overdose deaths in Vancouver last year, the
lowest number in several years, including some months when there were no
overdose deaths.

However, in January there were 10 deaths, an unusually high figure.

"We're waiting to see what the death rate was for February to see if there
is a trend developing," MacPherson said.

In January, Health Canada released guidelines for applying for an exemption
under Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for a pilot
supervised injection site research project. These guidelines provide the
legal framework within which supervised injection sites can operate in
Canada.

The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority is now identifying possible sites for
supervised injection sites in Vancouver and will apply to Health Canada over
the next few weeks for Controlled Drugs and Substances Act exemption.

A Portland Hotel Society spin-off company has already spent $30,000 of
donated money creating a safe injection site on the 100-block of East
Hastings that it hopes will get VCHA money to operate.