Pubdate: Sat, 13 Jul 2013
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 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: James Keller
Page: A 14

ABBOTSFORD DEFENDS CITY BYLAW RESTRICTING HARM-REDUCTION SERVICES AFTER 
DRUG USERS SUE

Abbotsford is defending an eight year old bylaw that has prevented
health officials from offering harm reduction services to drug users,
suggesting the provision doesn't, in fact, ban programs such as clean-
needle distribution.

A group of three drug users filed a lawsuit against the City of
Abbotsford in May, alleging the bylaw violates their constitutional
rights because it prevents them from accessing services that could
prevent overdoses and diseases such as hepatitis.

The City of Abbotsford has filed a statement of defence in B. C.
Supreme Court, suggesting the bylaw doesn't prevent the local health
authority from offering services to drug users, while also noting
several community groups already distribute clean needles in the community.

"The bylaw does not restrict ( the Fraser Health Authority) from using
land within the boundaries of ( Abbotsford) for all activities that
are directed to addressing adverse medical outcomes associated with
the consumption of illicit drugs," says the response to civil claim,
filed on July 2.

"Harm reduction measures, including needle exchange, are and have been
provided by agencies other than the ( health authority) within the
territorial jurisdiction of ( Abbotsford)," the document continues.

Community groups have been quietly contravening the bylaw for years,
passing out clean needles, crack pipes and other supplies, without any
attempts by the city to stop them, though Fraser Health has repeatedly
insisted it cannot launch a needle-distribution program with the
bylaw still in place.

The statement of defence appears to suggest the bylaw may not
represent a blanket ban on harm-reduction services - an assertion
that would be at odds with the city's own public statements about the
bylaw.

When the bylaw was passed in 2005, councillors at the time made it
clear they were changing the city's zoning rules to prevent harm-
reduction services like those offered in Vancouver from appearing in
their community.

The change was introduced amid the debate over the controversial
supervisedinjection site opened in Vancouver two years earlier, though
the Abbotsford bylaw includes all forms of harm reduction.

The city launched a review of the bylaw in 2010, at the request of
Fraser Health, and several staff reports and reviews prepared as part
of that review clearly state the purpose of the bylaw is the
"prohibition of needle exchanges, mobile dispensing vans, safe
injection sites and other similar uses" in all zones of the city.

In its response, the city denies the bylaw violates the rights of drug
users, but says even if it does, such a violation would be
justifiable. "The provisions of the bylaw relating to harm-reduction
use are directed to promoting the orderly, efficient and reasonable
use of land within the defendant's boundaries," the document says.

The lawsuit was launched by Douglas Smith, Nadia Issel and Diana
Knowles, who all live in Abbotsford and use injection drugs. The B.
C./ Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors is also a plaintiff.

Their lawyer, Scott Bernstein of Pivot Legal Society, said he'll be
asking the city to clarify its arguments, though he said he was
surprised the city appears to be downplaying the scope of the bylaw.
At the very least, he says the city's court submission is vague. "Why
is the bylaw there in the first place?" he said Friday. "If it's not
actually doing what it says, then what's the point? Is it just to
harass people who use drugs or to scare off organizations?"
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MAP posted-by: Matt