Pubdate: Fri, 22 Sep 2006
Source: Georgia Straight, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 The Georgia Straight
Contact:  http://www.straight.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1084
Author: Matthew Burrows

NEW INJECTION SITES STALLED

Mark Townsend Says The Feds' 2007 Extension For Insite  Is No Victory.

A completed proposal and architectural plans for a  second 
safe-injection site are currently on the back  burner, according to a 
Downtown Eastside housing  advocate.

Mark Townsend, the executive director of the Portland  Hotel 
SocietyaE"whose staff operate the Insite  safe-injection facility in 
partnership with Vancouver  Coastal HealthaE"told the Georgia 
Straight he can't  think about opening a second safe-injection site 
in the area until the fate of Insite is clearer.

Federal Conservative Health Minister Tony Clement did  not approve a 
renewal of a three-year Health Canada  exemption for supervised 
injection of drugs at Insite,  North America's first-ever supervised 
safe-injection  site. The minister put off any decision until 
December 31, 2007, pending a study on how facilities like 
Insite  "affect crime, prevention, and treatment", according to  a 
September 1 news release.

"I think the first thing is, we've got an extension  until New Year's 
Eve [2007], and I see that extension  as a very temporary thing," 
Townsend told the Straight.  "What we have to do is more work with 
the federal  government to get them to support it. I think 
they're  out there looking for something else, like a 
three-  pillared or a two-pillared approach, you know? The  first 
priority was to work on keeping this one. It's  good they've extended 
it, but I don't think it's open  as part of another comprehensive 
plan, if you know what  I mean."

Portland Hotel Society was part of a coalitionaE"which  includes 
former Vancouver mayors Philip Owen, Larry  Campbell, and Mike 
HarcourtaE"that has been pressuring  the federal government to renew 
Insite's lease.  Standing in front of Insite speaking to the 
Straight, Townsend said the deferral by Clement is "not a  victory".

Townsend also said that even though he has plans for  another 
safe-injection site, he does not plan to open a  second one illegally 
to make a political statement  because "people here are on-side".

"Insite requires the cooperation of all levels of  government and 
[stakeholder] groups," Townsend said.  "But in terms of getting 
another site, from our  perspective, we do need another site, and 
we've done  some work in that regard by getting an architect to  draw 
a sketch and we've written up what is required to  get the extension. 
We have a bound proposal, but it's  not submitted, as they [the 
federal government] have  clearly stated they will not accept more 
submissions."

In the September 1 statement, Clement said he will be  working with 
his counterparts in Justice and Public  Safety, as well as the 
Canadian Centre for Substance  Abuse, toward a national drug 
strategy. He also said  Health Canada will not entertain any 
applications for the establishment of new sites until the drug 
strategy  and Insite review are complete.

For Ann Livingston, executive program director with the  Vancouver 
Area Network of Drug Users, this does not  address the "urgent" need 
on the streets now.

"VANDU is mounting a campaign," Livingston told the  Straight. "We 
need four or five safe-injection sites.  If the federal government 
won't take applications, just  open them. If they [federal 
government] won't do the  right thing, then VANDU has to take the lead."

Livingston said she is planning "sit-ins,  letter-writing, anything" 
to draw attention to what she  sees as an urgent plight for drug 
users who need to  inject and smoke drugs in a safe setting. She 
claims Insite is equipped to handle only a small percentage of  that 
demand. "It's five percent of injected-drug use."

Townsend said he agrees, adding: "In the Downtown  Eastside, you'd 
probably need three [sites].

"I'd like to focus on detox beds, heroin maintenance,  and safe- 
injection sites, but we're only human," he  said. "We had to have a 
fight at the federal level,  which is a tough fight. With [site] 
number two, we  wanted to include the ability to smoke drugs, just to 
get some of that off the street. There has been an  impact in 
reducing injections on the street, but  there's a lot of smoking of 
crack. I'm not sure if we  can get that off the street as easily as 
injection, but  that is our aim. If we were to do another one, 
we'd  glass the booths in so someone could smoke there as  well."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Elaine