Pubdate: Wed, 06 Sep 2006
Source: Oak Bay News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Oak Bay News
Contact:  http://www.oakbaynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1346
Author: Brennan Clarke
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

INJECTION SITES PANNED BY POLICE

National Police Convention Calls For Education, Treatment Options
Instead

Safe injection site proponents in Vancouver and  Victoria will have to
forge ahead without the support  of rank-and-file police officers
across the country.

Around 200 delegates at the Canadian Police  Association's annual
general meeting in Victoria voted  unanimously Friday to oppose safe
injection sites and  called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to create
a  national drug strategy focusing on education, treatment  and prevention.

"Safe injection sites are not going to solve the drug  issues in our
community," said CPA vice-president  Const. Tom Stamaktakis. "This is
a significant issue  for our members."

Stamatakis, a Vancouver police officer and president of  the Vancouver
Police Union, said rank-and-file officers  have seen few positive
results from his city's  three-year experiment with legalized drug use
at a  facility known as InSite.

"We're not seeing improvements as a result of the safe  injection
site," he said. "In our experience, myself  and the other officers
that work those streets, things  are worse than they've ever been."

Safe injection sites are seen as one aspect of harm  reduction regime
dubbed the four pillars approach.

Stamatakis said officers say the other three pillars -  education,
prevention and treatment - are being pushed  aside in favour of
legalized drug use.

"There's a sense of pervasiveness, entitlement and  enabling," he
said. "Our officers are unanimous in  their feeling about how
destructive and devastating  these drugs are. This sends the wrong
message to young  people about drug use."

InSite, which operates under a special exemption from a  section of
the Canada Health Act that bans illegal drug  consumption in
health-care facilities, will have to  close up shop Sept. 12 if Ottawa
decides not to extend  the pilot project.

Despite uncertainty over the future of InSite, the City  of Victoria,
the Vancouver Island Health Authority and  the University of Victoria
have joined forces on a safe  injection site study that will accompany
Victoria's  application for a Health Canada exemption next spring.

Victoria police Chief Paul Battershill, a staunch  advocate of harm
reduction approach in dealing with  street level addiction issues,
said any such facility  in Victoria would have to maintain a sharp
focus on all  four harm reduction pillars.

"I have spoken to the police association  representatives in regard to
the safe injection site  issue. They are concerned that other pieces
such as  prevention, education and treatment have not been  proceeded
with and they question the value of a safe  injection site without the
other pieces," Battershill  said.

"I think we would try very hard here to ensure that the  other
components are in place here in Victoria if we  are successful with a
safe injection site application." 
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MAP posted-by: Steve Heath