Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jun 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: Marianne White, Canwest News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/insite (Insite)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)

QUEBEC EYES SUPERVISED INJECTION FACILITIES

The Province Is Closely Following The Legal Battle Over Vancouver's Site

QUEBEC -- Quebec is considering opening supervised injection sites 
for drug addicts, following in the footsteps of a controversial 
Vancouver initiative that the federal government may shut down.

"We are looking into this very seriously," Quebec Health Minister 
Philippe Couillard said Wednesday.

Quebec public health authorities say they believe this strategy can 
effectively cut down on blood-borne infections among drug addicts and 
set users on the road to recovery.

"The idea is not to promote drug use, but to offer users a safe 
environment where they can also exchange syringes and get in touch 
with people who can help them," said Horacio Arruda, director of the 
department's health-protection branch.

"If you can prevent addicts from catching hepatitis C or HIV, you are 
coming in very useful," he stressed, adding that one in four Quebec 
addicts that share infected needles catch hepatitis C every year.

North America's only supervised injection site first opened its doors 
in September 2003 to provide a facility for supervised injection drug 
use to addicts in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. The site is allowed 
to operate thanks to exemption under the Controlled Drugs and 
Substances Act that expires June 30.

The project sparked controversy from the start, and there has been 
tremendous uncertainty about what the federal Conservative 
government, whose members have expressed disapproval of the site, 
would do when the exemption expires.

But last week the B.C. Supreme Court ruled in favour of the 
safe-injection site on the grounds it provides a constitutionally 
protected health-care service.

Justice Ian Pitfield ruled the site reduces the possibility of 
overdoses, cuts down on the risk of disease transmission and offers 
users access to treatment.

Ottawa is appealing the decision.

Couillard said his government will follow the legal battle very 
closely before going ahead with its project. "I don't want to 
interfere with the tribunals here, but I believe in this matter that 
priority should be given to safety and health concerns," he said.

The province's health authorities are currently doing feasibility 
studies on injection sites.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom