INJECTION SITE SAVES LIVES

I read with interest your online article New report suggests
Vancouver's safe-injection site a failure, May 2, featuring former
Reform party MP Randy White's remarks regarding Vancouver's
supervised injection site. The article that White is touting is
written by Colin Mangham and is published in an American magazine
that was established just two months ago with funding from the U.S.
Department of Justice. This is only its second issue. In contrast,
the 24 Canadian studies, funded by Health Canada, have been published
in established peer-reviewed journals that have existed since the
early 1800s. (The New England Journal of Medicine was founded in
1812, and The Lancet was founded in 1823.) The research published in
these journals indicates that the injection site has a positive
contribution to make in our collective fight against addiction.

As a nurse watching people living lives that none of us would ever
consider, I ask White, rather than taking cheap shots at the
injection site, why not try to help us?

There needs to be some programs and services that complement the
lifesaving work of the supervised injection site. If we could all
build and implement the kind of comprehensive strategy that is
required, including harm reduction, treatment, detox, enforcement,
etc., we could move towards seeing some real changes.Vancouver's
injection site saves lives and needs to be a part of this strategy.

Liz Evans

PHS Community Services Society

Vancouver