Pubdate: Mon, 14 Mar 2016
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.torontosun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://torontosun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Jenny Yuen
Page: 3

STICK 'EM IN HOSPITALS

Mammo: Safest injection site

Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti doesn't want to see supervised injection
sites in neighbourhoods - only in pharmacies located in hospitals.

The outspoken York West (Ward 7) councillor weighed in on the report
Dr. David McKeown, Toronto's chief medical officer of health, plans to
unveil Monday morning which calls for the creation of up to five
safe-injection clinics in the city.

"There's only one safe-injection site and that should be our
pharmacies," Mammoliti insisted Sunday. "We should not have these
sites in any one community and it should not be advertised that way.
They shouldn't be front and centre."

The report, spawned by the rising number of drug overdose deaths,
recommends that safe-injection sites be housed in clinics or
health-care centres that already offer harm reduction programs to drug
addicts, such as clean-needle exchanges.

In 2003, Vancouver opened InSite, Canada's first supervised injection
site in its struggling downtown east-side neighbourhood. Montreal has
also committed to establishing similar sites and is waiting for
required approval from the federal government.

"If you want to use Vancouver's model, you must talk to the people who
live in Vancouver around that model because they complain about it,"
Mammoliti said. "They don't like people loitering. It stops legitimate
businesses from moving into those communities, so you're not going to
get even a McDonald's franchise or another decent type of restaurant
moving into next door to one of these places."

But Landon Hoyt, the executive director of Vancouver's Hastings
Crossing BIA where InSite is located, countered hosting a
safe-injection site hasn't hurt business and in some ways, created a
safer neighbourhood.

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[sidebar]

- - Source: InSite

INSIDE INSITE

Vancouver's InSite, the first supervised injection site to open in
Canada - in 2003 - provides a place for drug addicts to safely shoot
up under supervision.

* There is a front line team of nurses, counsellors, mental
health workers and peer support workers onsite.

* InSite has 13 injection booths where clients inject
pre-obtained illicit drugs under the supervision of nurses and
health-care staff.

* The facility also supplies clean injection equipment such as
syringes, cookers, filters, water and tourniquets. If an overdose
occurs, the team intervenes immediately.

* Nurses also provide other health-care services, such as wound
care and immunizations.
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MAP posted-by: Matt