SOCIETY PLANS TO STUDY INJECTION SITES

Safe injection sites may prevent drug overdoses and improve city addicts'
health, a Kamloops AIDS Society official said Wednesday.

Ken Salter, a prison outreach worker with the society, said he will ask the
city's social planning council for a cash grant to study the issue of
intravenous drug addiction in Kamloops and whether safe injection sites
would prove beneficial.

Mayor Mel Rothenburger said the idea should not be dismissed out of hand.
He said exploration of the subject is worthwhile, but a firm decision on an
injection site will require extensive community input.

"There is a need to look at practical solutions to drug abuse and AIDS and
do something about it," Rothenburger said.

Whether safe injection sites provide the solution is another question, he
added.

Salter said there were 80 overdose deaths in Kamloops in 2001, and more
than three times that number of non-fatal overdoses.

He said safe injection sites -- places where addicts can shoot up without
risk of prosecution or harassment -- can help people with drug problems by
providing a gateway to counselling and health services.

"There is interest in exploring whether we need one or not," Salter said.

Local research will also help get federal funding if it's decided an
injection site is needed, he said. The federal government is offering
grants to communities who identify a need for such services.

Sgt. Randy Brown said the issue is a hot topic.

He said the RCMP and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police do not
support the concept of safe injection sites.

He said there are concerns such sites increase drug use and attract users
from other places.

"Do we want to open the Pandora's box?" he asked.

He likened supervised injection sites to needle exchange programs and
questioned their effectiveness.

"Safe injection sites and needle exchanges -- how many people do they get
off drugs? Quantify that," Brown said.