Pubdate: Mon, 19 May 2003 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2003 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms) SIT-INS DEMAND DRUG SITE About 50 people in the Downtown Eastside staged a protest Saturday, demanding that North America's first legal place to shoot heroin be opened immediately. Chanting, "We're not going to take this anymore," the group calling itself the Coalition for Harm Reduction staged brief sit-ins at a number of intersections. Since April 6, some community groups have been running an unauthorized safe-injection site in the Downtown Eastside while waiting for a legal one to open. "It's appalling," said site user Janis Carr. "All levels of government say they support the opening of a site, but none have done anything about it. That's why we were forced to open our own." Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell promised to have a safe-injection site in operation as soon as possible after his election in November. But it was put on hold while Health Canada develops a process for applying for a safe-injection site. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh