FEDS MAKE GUTSY MOVE ON DRUGS

The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse is gearing up to host a high-stakes
gathering that will likely be a springboard for safe injection sites.

For months, Health Canada has quietly been developing draft guidelines for
pilot projects that would allow drug addicts to shoot up under supervision.

In December, major stakeholders, including health, justice and addictions
professionals, will meet to hash over the proposals.

"We'll bring people together and (Health Canada) will present the
guidelines," says CCSA spokesman Richard Garlick.

"It's pretty gutsy on the part of Health Canada to move in this direction,"
he adds.

"They've got to get a really serious buy-in from all the parties involved."

Indeed, if local communities aren't solidly behind the idea of safe
injection sites, it won't fly, says Farah Mohamed, spokesman for Health
Minister Anne McLellan.

And if provincial, municipal and police officials aren't on-side, as well
as health, business and other representatives, no pilot project will be
launched, she said.

Critics worry that lack of community cohesion on such a controversial issue
could be a stumbling block. Then again, it's quite possible there will be
little, if any, opposition.

The police appear to be in favour of supervised safe injection sites. An
RCMP spokesman conceded last year that such venues are needed to stop the
spread of disease.

Locally, the Edmonton city police department is also being realistic about
the need for a harm-reduction approach to injection drug use. "It's a
pragmatic issue, not a philosophical one," says police spokesman Wes
Bellmore. "What the police see is a lot of suffering and a lot of sickness
due to dirty needles."

The department acknowledges that safe injection sites would go a long way
towards preventing addicts from contracting blood-borne diseases and
passing them on to others.

Canada's major cities are already on board. The Federation of Canadian
Municipalities big-city mayors' caucus, including Mayor Bill Smith, gave
the thumbs-up to trial safe injection sites earlier this year. The
provinces could be convinced to support the concept because of the enormous
cost savings involved.

The benefits were outlined in a federal-provincial report on injection drug
use last year. The numbers are sobering. There is an estimated 125,000
injection drug users (IDUs) in Canada. Two-thirds of hepatitis C infections
and one-third of HIV cases can be attributed every year to IDUs.

It is projected that the direct and indirect costs of HIV/AIDS linked to
IDU will be $8.7 billion over six years. And the medical costs to treat
hepatitis C sufferers will be even greater.

Hard to believe? Not when you consider that hepatitis C is much more
infectious than HIV and the drug commonly used to treat the disease costs
$30,000. No wonder the task force that wrote last year's IDU report
supported safe injection sites.

The problems associated with IDU have reached "critical proportions," the
committee warned.

Many Canadians unfortunately view IDUs as "criminals and derelicts," the
report noted.

"These attitudes and misconceptions have resulted in a variety of harms,
including public apathy, undiagnosed mental illness and inaccessible
treatment and rehabilitation programs," the committee lamented. "Failure to
act now will result in escalating health, social and economic impacts."

It has already been shown in Europe that safe injection sites have reduced
drug-related health risks and lowered hospital and enforcement costs. There
is no reason why the harm-reduction approach couldn't work here as well.
Ottawa has started the ball rolling. Once the guidelines are in place it
will be up to interested municipalities to make the next move.

If all goes well, drug addicts could have a safe place to shoot up within
months.