Pubdate: Wed, 17 Sep 2003
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2003 Vancouver Courier
Contact:  http://www.vancourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474
Author: Mike Howell

'INSITE' OPENING AN INTERNATIONAL MEDIA EVENT

Despite major U.S. networks broadcasting Vancouver's drug problem to 
millions of Americans this week, Mayor Larry Campbell says he's not worried 
about the city's new image as the only North American city allowing addicts 
to inject illegal drugs in a supervised site.

In fact, Campbell says he hopes the U.S. emulates the injection site-called 
Insite-now operating at 139 East Hastings, which is designed to prevent 
overdose deaths and the spread of infectious disease.

"This doesn't make us their enemies-it's not a threat," Campbell told the 
Courier after being interviewed by ABC World News Tonight on the sidewalk 
outside the site.

Campbell was a hot commodity Monday morning as a throng of local, national 
and international media descended on the site, officially opened by 
politicians, addicts, health workers and Vancouver police Chief Jamie Graham.

ABC News' interest in the site was not surprising, considering its viewers 
live under an administration that continues to incarcerate addicts in the 
ongoing "War on Drugs."

Producer Sandy Nunez said most Americans likely aren't aware of Vancouver's 
drug problem or the push for an injection site. When her crew's two-minute 
segment airs to about 10 million viewers this week, she's predicting it 
will have a jaw-dropping effect.

"I just know that if I was at home watching this, and I saw that people 
were able to go into this facility and not get arrested and have a clean 
environment to do their drugs, I would just be like, 'Wow, that's amazing.'"

The fact that provincial and federal governments provided the millions of 
dollars to build and operate the site also astounds Nunez, who doesn't 
believe such a facility would ever be set up in the States.

"I don't think anybody would ever entertain that thought publicly because 
it could be a problem for them," she said, noting, however, that she knows 
of at least two governors who would support an injection site.

After spending Sunday and Monday in the Downtown Eastside with her crew, 
Nunez said the level of open-air drug activity is unlike that in any major 
U.S. city.

She doubts the injection site will attract addicts from the States, 
pointing out the addicts she saw in Vancouver alleys will likely have 
enough trouble getting to the site.

In three to four months, Nunez is planning to return to Vancouver to see if 
addicts are using the facility and whether their health has improved 
because of the care at the site, which includes counsellors and nurses.

Nunez has already told former mayor Philip Owen she wants him to be a guest 
on ABC's Nightline when the crew returns. Owen's work in getting the site 
established was praised by Campbell and other dignitaries Monday.

"We wouldn't be here today it it weren't for the tireless work of my 
predecessor," Campbell told reporters.

The opening of the injection site attracted a crew from CNN that was 
expected to air a segment this week. The Economist and other publications 
as well as radio and television stations also documented the event.

How the media portrays Vancouver in news stories is of concern to Walt 
Judas, spokesman for Tourism Vancouver. Stories that focus on Vancouver's 
drug problem without mentioning its beauty and other attractions would not 
be good for tourism, he said.

Judas said visitors have complained about the deplorable conditions in the 
Downtown Eastside, noting Tourism Vancouver staff do their best to steer 
people away from the notorious strip along East Hastings near Main.

"Even people from places like Detroit have expressed some shock about what 
they've seen, and it certainly doesn't fit Vancouver's reputation of being 
safe and clean."

Two visitors from Cincinnati, Ohio-81-year-old James Watson and his 
73-year-old wife Roberta-were shocked to learn of the injection site while 
touring Chinatown Monday morning.

Though the couple said the site and the drug problem wouldn't have deterred 
them from visiting the city, learning the magnitude of Vancouver's drug 
epidemic made them uncomfortable.

"You mean to tell me people can walk in this place and legally inject 
drugs? That's terrible," said James Watson, standing outside the Chinese 
Cultural Centre on Pender Street, only a block from the notorious Hastings 
Street strip. "You're just encouraging them to use drugs."

The Downtown Eastside is estimated to be home to 4,700 intravenous drug 
users. Up to 40 per cent of those addicts have HIV or AIDS and 90 percent 
have hepatitis C.

Although Monday marked the official opening of Insite, addicts will 
gradually begin using the facility over the next week, said Clay Adams, 
spokesman for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, which is co-managing 
the site with the Portland Hotel Society Community Services Society.

Addicts will be provided clean needles to inject at small booths in a room 
supervised by a nurse. After shooting up, they'll go to a "chill-out room" 
before returning to the streets.

Up to 800 people are expected to use the facility each day. Health Canada 
has provided up to $1.5 million to support the research pilot project.

The provincial government will fund $2 million for the remainder of this 
fiscal year for operating costs, and has already provided another $1.2 
million to renovate the site.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens