Pubdate: Fri, 07 Nov 2008
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 The Vancouver Sun
Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Neal Hall
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Insite

TWO MORE INTERVENORS JOIN INJECTION SITE APPEAL

VANCOUVER - A B.C. Court of Appeal judge decided Thursday to allow 
two more intervenors at a pending appeal involving Insite, the 
supervised injection site that has been allowed to remain open for 
another year.

Appeal Court Justice Mary Saunders allowed the applications for 
intervenor status from the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, whose 
employees work at Insite, and the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation.

A third application brought by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association 
was not opposed. The association was earlier granted intervenor status.

The federal government, which is seeking to shut down Insite, opposed 
the applications of Vancouver Coastal Health and the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation.

The Dr. Peter Centre has been providing, since 2006, a supervised 
injection site for some of its 300 clients, some of whom are homeless 
or HIV-positive.

Unlike Insite, it does not have a Health Canada exemption and takes 
the view that it is not necessary because it is not part of the kind 
of scientific study that Insite is involved in.

Insite's primary contractor, PHS Community Services Society, and two 
drug users took the federal government to court, arguing that closing 
the site would breach the constitutional right to life and security 
of people who use the site.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ian Pitfield ruled last May that the 
supervised injection site should be allowed to remain open for a 
year, even without a federal exemption from current drug laws.

The judge ruled that Canada's drug laws are unconstitutional when 
they are applied to addicts using a supervised-injection site.

Pitfield said the possession law "prohibits the management of 
addiction and its associated risks at Insite. Instead of being 
rationally connected to a reasonable apprehension of harm, the 
blanket prohibition contributes to the very harm it seeks to prevent."

The federal government is appealing the ruling. The appeal is 
scheduled for next April.

Insite, which sees about 600 to 1,100 users daily, has operated in 
the Downtown Eastside since 2003 under an exemption from the federal 
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom