Pubdate: Fri, 30 Sep 2011
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2011 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Petti Fong, Western Bureau - With files from Michael Woods 

VANCOUVER'S ADDICTS CELEBRATE SUPREME COURT RULING ON INSITE INJECTION
SITE

VANCOUVER--Les Kaczorowski carefully puts down the bouquet he's been
handed and lays the flowers on the sidewalk in front of the Insite
facility.

As an addict, he explains, he's always looking for something to sell
to make money. The flowers he's been given to celebrate the supervised
injection site's victory at the Supreme Court of Canada should net him
a few bucks.

"I owe my life to Insite. I overdosed here in this facility," said
Kaczorowski, 42, who has been visiting Insite since its 2003 opening.
"That day, if I had chosen to use the alleyway instead of Insite, I
wouldn't be here."

The supervised injection site was the first of its kind in North
America when it opened its doors to drug addicts, providing them with
a neighbourhood pit stop to shoot up their drugs.

The gritty Downtown Eastside, which butts up against some of
Vancouver's trendiest blocks and tourist sites, is a place where
people openly use drugs on street and alleyways. It's home to hundreds
of residents who live in single-room apartment units. Many of them
have mental health issues as well as drug addictions.

The first day the facility opened, Kaczorowski was there. He thought
it was an elaborate hoax.

"It was too good to be true, a way to recognize addicts and who we
were. (I) thought it was a scam by the facility and the police to try
and find out who would be dumb enough to use it," he said.

Nearly a decade later, Kaczorowski said he's still addicted. As a
friend tries to convince him to ask for money in exchange for talking
to a reporter, Kaczorowski said he knows he would be dead if he wasn't
able to continue shooting up at Insite.

The unanimous decision by the Supreme Court to support the continued
operation of North America's only supervised injection site was wise
and humane, said B.C.'s Health Minister Mike de Jong.

Scientific evidence continually proves that Insite saves lives, is a
health benefit and poses no risk to the public," he said.

By 5 a.m., an hour and a half before the ruling came down in Ottawa,
Insite's supporters began gathering outside. Volunteers served
breakfast to dozens of Eastside residents anxious for news about the
facility's fate. They weren't all rooting for it.

Long-time resident Betty Morris said the facility hasn't helped the
addiction problems she sees in her neighbourhood.

"I do not agree with it. It's irresponsible and mismanaging the money
that could go to children and health care. Seniors are having a hell
of a time getting help and money shouldn't be spent on a facility for
addicts," she said Friday.

Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the British Columbia Centre for
Excellence in HIV/AIDS and chair of AIDS research at the University of
British Columbia, said the ruling marks a new path for drug addiction
treatment in Canada.

"The whole notion of harm reduction has now been validated by the
courts," he said. "Every practitioner in every corner of this country
now has a moral, ethical and legal obligation to offer harm reduction
services to the patient."
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.