Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jul 2009 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Insite DRUG DEATHS DOWN Across B.C., fewer drug users are dying of overdoses. The number of deaths has dropped from a high of 396 in 1998 to 133 in 2008, according to B.C. Coroners Service statistics. In Vancouver, the number of drug deaths is down from a high of 191 in 1998 to 30 in 2008. Proponents of Insite credit the supervised injection site, which was opened in 2003. But the decreasing popularity of injectable drugs in favour of crack and meth is also likely a factor. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom