Pubdate: Mon, 12 Dec 2016
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2016 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Andrea Woo
Page: S1

OTTAWA AIMS TO SOFTEN INJECTION SITE RULES

As drug-related deaths rise in B.C. and opioids continue to spread
nationwide, government seeks amendments to Harper-era bill

Ottawa will introduce a bill Monday that is expected to reduce
barriers to opening and operating supervised drug consumption sites in
Canada.

The move comes days after B.C. announced it would open several
"overdose prevention sites" without federal approval as an emergency
measure to counter the province's highest death toll on record due to
illicit drugs.

As well, carfentanil - a powerful synthetic opioid many times more
toxic than fentanyl - has now been detected in three provinces and is
beginning to fuel another surge in overdoses, creating a new sense of
urgency.

More than 622 people have died of illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C.
alone, so far this year; the year-end tally is expected to surpass
750.

Supervised injection sites offer clean supplies, reducing the risk of
blood-borne illnesses, and have staffers on hand to administer
naloxone, an opioid antagonist, should someone overdose.

The previous Conservative government introduced Bill C-2, the Respect
for Communities Act, after fighting against Insite, Vancouver's public
supervised injection site, all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The court in 2011 sided with the Downtown Eastside facility and
ordered the government to stop interfering.

The act includes more than two dozen costly and time-consuming
requirements that prospective operators must meet before being granted
the necessary exemption from federal drug laws to run such a site.
They include: holding extensive community consultations; collecting
data and other information on crime, public nuisance and
inappropriately discarded drug paraphernalia in the vicinity of the
site; and conducting criminal-record checks for every staff member
going back 10 years.

The legislation received royal assent in June, 2015, and amends the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

Critics have fought the Respect for Communities Act since it was
introduced, calling it a deliberate effort to hamper the harm
reduction service. Aside from an approval for the 14-year-old Dr.
Peter Centre, and a renewal for the 13-year-old Insite, no new
applications have been approved to date.

The amendments to the bill will be introduced by federal Health
Minister Jane Philpott.

It is not yet known exactly what amendments will be sought. Perry
Kendall, B.C.'s provincial health officer, said he hopes for a full
repeal of the Harper-era changes.

"When the Supreme Court delivered its verdict, they said, as a general
rule, that the minister should approve these requests for exemptions
when it was clear the balance favoured health inputs and minimal harms
to public safety," he said.

"I'm hoping whatever changes have been [proposed] will reflect that
direction from the Supreme Court and will reflect what [Dr. Philpott]
heard and learned, particularly when she visited B.C."

B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, the
Canadian Nurses Association and various others have also called for
the act's repeal.

The health minister, a physician, has been vocal in her support of
evidence-based treatment, including supervised injection service.
Faced with complaints about the legislation, Dr. Philpott took a
wait-and-see approach, eventually acknowledging last month that it
posed undue barriers and that changes appeared necessary.

"Any piece of legislation has to go through a certain number of steps
before it's formalized, but I recognize that people are dying every
day," she said on Nov. 10. "We are committed to making sure we make
these services available."

This is not the first piece of Conservative legislation relating to
drug use that the Liberal government will undo. After Health Canada in
2013 granted special access for a few dozen severely addicted heroin
users in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to receive prescription heroin
outside of a clinical trial, previous Conservative Health Minister
Rona Ambrose swiftly introduced legislation to ban physicians from
prescribing "dangerous drugs like heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and LSD."

That was overturned in September, with Health Canada saying a
"significant body of evidence" supports heroin-assisted treatment.

The Liberal government is also months away from introducing
legislation to legalize marijuana, in contrast with the previous
government, which vehemently opposed such a move.
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