Pubdate: Mon, 07 May 2007 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 The Province Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Author: Liz Evans Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) INJECTION SITE SAVES LIVES In his tirade against the Insite facility, former Reform Party MP Randy White is a little disingenuous in not pointing out that what he is touting is written by his own colleague, Colin Mangham, and is published in a U.S. magazine established just two months ago, with funding from the U.S. Department of Justice. This is only their second issue. By contrast, the 24 Canadian studies, funded by Health Canada, have been published in established, peer-reviewed journals that have existed since the early 1800s. This research indicates that the injection site, far from being a "silver bullet," has a positive contribution to make in our fight against addiction. As a nurse watching people living lives that none of us could ever consider, I ask White to try to help us, rather than take cheap political shots . A comprehensive strategy needs programs and services that complement the life-saving work of the supervised injection site. If we could all build and implement that strategy, including harm-reduction, treatment, detox, enforcement, etc., we could move toward seeing real changes. Vancouver's injection site saves lives and needs to be a part of this strategy. Liz Evans Insite for Community Safety - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman