Pubdate: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 Source: Kamloops Daily News (CN BC) Copyright: 2002 Kamloops Daily News Contact: http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/679 Author: Robert Koopmans Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms) 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. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom