Pubdate: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2002 The Toronto Star Contact: http://www.thestar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456 Author: Arpon Basu, Canadian Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms) OTTAWA OPENS DOOR TO SAFE INJECTION SITES Proposals from cities expected by end of year, says Health Canada MONTREAL - Health Canada is reviewing the criteria for safe injection sites for drug addicts and will be ready to accept proposals from interested cities by the end of this year. The Controlled Drugs and Substances Act has already been reviewed to ensure there is no legal impediment to creating centres where intravenous drug users could safely inject their drugs. The ministry is now shaping the guidelines under which cities could make proposals to open a safe injection centre, Farah Mohamed, a spokesperson for Health Minister Anne McLellan, said yesterday. "We're in the process," Mohamed said. "The minister, by the end of this year, will be able to accept proposals (from individual cities)." It would take 60 days for Health Canada to review each proposal, Mohamed said. Upon approval, the city would be free to establish a safe injection centre. A safe injection site differs from a needle-exchange centre in that it would provide intravenous drug users with trained medical professionals to monitor the injection of drugs. A report in Montreal's Le Devoir yesterday said Health Canada would not play a role in funding the injection sites. But Mohamed said no decision has been made. "There's been some people saying they think Health Canada should fund it, but we're not at that stage yet to even determine the amounts of money it would cost," she said. Any decision on funding would come only when a prospective safe injection site was identified. One person who feels Health Canada needs to play some role in paying for the sites is Ralf Jurgens, executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. "Health Canada needs to at least co-fund these safe injection facilities," he said. The legal network completed a report in April calling for the creation of trial safe-injection sites and citing a Canadian Medical Association Journal article from August, 2001, that supports its position. "Supervised injection rooms are a logical next step," the article stated, "one that combines the merits of realism and compassion." There are 125,000 intravenous drug users in Canada, according to the HIV/AIDS legal network, and Jurgens said these people are at a high risk of exposure to hepatitis C, HIV and overdoses. "Safe injection facilities help address those issues," Jurgens said. He believes trial safe injection sites should begin in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, adding that other cities such as Edmonton and Quebec City have shown interest. The legal network report also quotes a 1998 study that estimated the direct and indirect costs of HIV and AIDS attributed to intravenous drug use in Canada would amount to $8.7 billion over six years if current trends continue. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh