Pubdate: Sun, 20 May 2012
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Elaine O'Connor

ABBOTSFORD MAY END BAN ON SAFE-INJECTION SITES

Abbotsford drug users - for years officially denied harm-reduction
services in the conservative community - may soon have access to
services such as addicts in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside have.

Faced with pressure from the health authority and advocacy groups,
Abbotsford City Council will on May 28 review a 2005 zoning bylaw
amendment prohibiting needle exchanges and safe-injection sites.

Mayor Bruce Banman, elected in 2011 on a pledge to make Abbotsford
more progressive, said he's open to potentially scrapping the bylaw.

"From a humanitarian perspective, just because you're an addict
doesn't mean you're entitled to less than the rest of us," Banman said.

"My personal view is that I think that needle exchanges have some
positive attributes with regards to AIDS and hepatitis.

"Having needle exchanges, you bring addicts in contact with a
professional on a regular basis and give them the opportunity, when
they are ready, to try detox."

Earlier this month, the Fraser Health Authority sent a proposal to the
city to distribute up to 120,000 needles per year to an estimated 500
injection drug users.

Pivot Legal Society was considering a legal challenge to the bylaw
earlier this year, arguing it violates an individual's Charter rights
and access to medical care.

The reality is that harm-reduction services have been operating
illegally in the region for years.

A consortium of community groups, called the Supporting Wellness and
Reducing Harm Committee, has been quietly distributing needles in
Abbotsford shooting galleries since 2005.

"Is there a need? Absolutely," said Brian Gross, board member and
Abbotsford liaison for the B.C./ Yukon Association of Drug War
Survivors, a consortium member.

"They go out with thousands of needles at night and they come back
with none."

Gross said councillors shouldn't set health policy and he feels the
bylaw sends a cruel message: "They would rather see addicts dead than
within the city."

The PHS Community Services Society, which manages the Downtown
Eastside's Insite safe-injection site and runs a needle-exchange van,
made a business permit application last week to bring its van to Abbotsford.

The group's been quietly operating there once a week for six months,
handing out up to 500 needles a night.

"What we found distributing at our needle exchanges is that people
were coming from as far away as Abbotsford to get clean needles," said
Mark Townsend of PHS. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D