SAFE PLACE FOR ADDICTS IN WORKS

But Councillor Skeptical Of Plan

Shooting up in the new year may become easier unless a novel idea is shot
down by council.

Health Canada announced in November that it is reviewing guidelines
under which cities could make proposals to open safe-injection centres for
drug addicts.

Councillor Joe Mihevc, chairman of the Toronto health board, said the
safe-injection houses must be regarded as a harm-reduction plan, and not
as the government "encouraging drug-use."

"In the end, it will be saving lives," Mihevc said. "A person cannot be
rehabilitated if they have AIDS."

He said the main issues surrounding drug abuse are diseases contracted
from needle-sharing. A safe-injection site would provide intravenous drug
users with trained medical professionals to monitor the injection of the drugs.

But Councillor Doug Holyday strongly opposes government-funded
injection sites because they encourage substance abuse.

"Saying it will help the problem is a far stretch," Holyday said. "I want
to see statistics that show it is beneficial to a lot of people."

At the moment, the federal government is still deciding whether to
allow safe-injection houses.

The next step would be for the municipal government to find a
community to accept the injection site.

"We will probably pilot test this project in a hospital and see if it
works there. We are trying to take it out of the community and put it into
health care," Mihevc said.