Pubdate: Fri, 27 May 2005
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 The Province
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Don Harrison
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

SAFE-INJECTION SITE A WINNER, SAYS MAYOR

Vancouver's Campbell Insists 'We've Seen A Positive Difference'

Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell has no doubt his city's safe-injection site 
is a winner.

"It's surpassed all expectations we had," said the former city coroner 
yesterday. "We've seen a [positive] difference in the number of people 
injecting in the street. We've seen a change in the [Downtown Eastside] 
street-scape. We've seen a drop [in the area] in HIV and hep C.

"Those are major changes, but they are very preliminary. I hope they [can] 
continue."

North America's only government-sponsored program supervising injection of 
illegal drugs has been operating for 20 months. Insite gives addicts a 
place to inject such street-bought drugs as heroin and cocaine without fear 
of being mugged in an alley by other addicts or dealers. And unlike in the 
mean streets around the Hastings Street site or at the West End's Dr. Peter 
Centre, not a single addict has died of a drug overdose at an SIS.

But Campbell also acknowledged that a supervised injection site "is not the 
be-all and end-all. It really is just one part of the puzzle."

"Treatment is always going to be difficult, mainly because there is no one 
treatment. There may be five, six, seven, who knows how many different ways 
of treating a disease."

Dr. David Marsh is in charge of the safe-injection site plan as Vancouver 
General Hospital medical director for HIV/AIDS and aboriginal health 
programs. While employing a scientist's caution, he offered stats 
concurring with Campbell's assessment that, so far, the three-year pilot is 
safer for users.

Marsh said that since opening in September 2003, over 5,000 users have 
injected at Insite at least once. And while experiencing about 300 
overdoses that required nursing intervention, there have not been any 
on-site deaths or shooters walking out in an overdosed state.

"They don't leave the safe-injection site until the effects of the overdose 
wear off," said Marsh, president of the Canadian Society for Addiction 
Medicine. "So far, all the OD [overdose] incidents have been managed well."

Meanwhile, Campbell said the final stage of the fight against the hard drug 
scourge is about to be unveiled.

"Next month, we will be rolling out our prevention end," the mayor said, 
"which is probably the most difficult to put together, because it has to be 
so comprehensive," requiring a safe neighbourhood, employment training, 
jobs and recreation options.

"Then we will have all four pillars" including enforcement, harm reduction 
and treatment. "Then it's a matter of making sure we don't stop pushing for 
support on all four."
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MAP posted-by: Beth