Pubdate: Wed, 22 May 2013
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: James Keller
Page: 4

LAWSUIT SEEKS HARM-REDUCTION SERVICES FOR HIV, HEP C PATIENTS

Three injection-drug users filed a suit Tuesday over an Abbotsford
bylaw that has banned harm-reduction services such as clean-needle
exchanges for the past eight years, arguing the prohibition violates
their Charter rights and needlessly puts them at risk.

The lawsuit comes as councillors in the Fraser Valley community study
the future of the bylaw, which health officials say is preventing them
from providing harm-reduction services in an area with some of the
province's highest rates of overdoses and infections of HIV and
hepatitis C.

Scott Bernstein of the Pivot Legal Society, which filed the suit on
behalf of the trio, says council's work has dragged on for three years
with no indication about when - or even if - the city will repeal the
bylaw.

"From my clients' perspective, every day that this bylaw is on the
books, it's putting their lives and their safety at risk," Bernstein
said.

The suit involves Douglas Smith, Nadia Issel and Diana Knowles, who
all live in Abbotsford and use injection drugs, according to their
statement of claim. The B.C./Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors
is also listed as a plaintiff.

In 2005, city council approved a zoning bylaw that bans needle
exchanges and safe-injection sites within the city. The bylaw was
passed amid the debate over the supervised-injection site in nearby
Vancouver, which opened the previous year.

The city began reviewing the bylaw in 2010 and has since ordered a
series of studies and public consultations.

In March, council directed city staff to prepare a draft bylaw that
would remove the harm-reduction ban, though it's not clear when it
will return to council for debate or a vote. A public hearing on the
issue is expected in the fall.

Community groups have been quietly contravening the bylaw for years,
passing out clean needles, crack pipes and other supplies without any
attempt by the city to shut them down, but the bylaw has stopped the
local health authority from implementing a formal, publicly funded,
harm-reduction program.
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MAP posted-by: Matt