Pubdate: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 Vancouver Courier Contact: http://www.vancourier.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474 Author: Mike Howell Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites) ADDICTS INJECTING ILLEGALLY BUT SAFELY Dr. Peter Centre Hasn't Heard Back From Police A downtown facility for people with deteriorating health caused by AIDS continues to operate its drug injection room without approval from Health Canada. The Dr. Peter Centre's three-stall injection room serves up to 50 HIV-positive clients who regularly inject illegal drugs inside the building at Comox and Thurlow. The federal government has known for several years that the injection room has operated without an exemption under the country's drug laws. But the government won't say why the centre was not granted an exemption, which would mean nurses and clients can't be charged with a drug crime while inside the injection room. The government has also left the decision to shut down the site in the hands of the Vancouver Police Department, which has not taken any action against the centre or its clients. Maxine Davis, the centre's executive director, pointed out there have been no arrests or overdose deaths since the injection room opened in February 2002. "What public good would be served for police to enter a supervised injection site to arrest a drug user trying to stay safe and healthy?" Davis said. She recently contacted the office of Vancouver Police Department Deputy Chief Bob Rich to notify him the centre continues to operate without Health Canada's approval. "If they had any issues with that, I would request that they would call and have a discussion with us rather than blind-siding us. We haven't heard anything further than that." Davis contacted Rich after Health Minister Tony Clement announced Oct. 2 that Insite on East Hastings would legally be allowed to continue operating until June 2008. Clement made no mention of the centre's injection room. Over the past two weeks, the Courier has left several messages with Health Canada and Clement's office to discuss Insite and injection drug use. So far, there has been no reply. Davis said the centre believed it had received an exemption from Health Canada in 2003. Vancouver Coastal Health, on behalf of the centre, applied to Health Canada in 2002 for the exemption. The request was included in the application for Insite, the only legal injection site in North America, which opened in September 2003. "It's my understanding that when the [federal health] minister was presented with signing off on the exemption for Insite in the fall of 2006, and was advised of a second site that inadvertently did not get signed in the first go round, that he declined to approve it," Davis said. "I don't know why and I don't what it means." Although possession of drugs is illegal, Davis said nurses working in the injection room are not contravening the law. Nurses do not provide, handle or inject the drugs, she added. "We acknowledge that there is some risk that the police could lay criminal charges," she said. "But even if they did, the charges simply wouldn't stick because nurses are carrying out their professional nursing practice standards according to their regulatory body." The centre opened the injection room in February 2002 after consulting with the College of Registered Nurses and the centre's lawyer. Prior to opening the injection room, two clients overdosed at the centre--one in a washroom, the other in a laundry room. Neither person died but the close calls provided an impetus to open the injection room, said Davis, adding that more than 2,000 safe injections have occurred at the site. The centre houses a day health program and a 24-hour care residence. It caters to people with AIDS. About 70 per cent of clients have either a history of using drugs or are struggling with addiction. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom