Pubdate: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Times Colonist Contact: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481 Author: Frances Bula and Nicholas Read, CanWest News Service Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms) SUPPORTERS STEP UP DRIVE TO KEEP INJECTION SITE OPEN VANCOUVER -- As the deadline for extending Vancouver's first and only supervised safe-injection site nears, proponents are ramping up their efforts to demonstrate its benefits to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government. Consequently, more and more studies are emerging to illustrate those benefits, the latest of which says that in addition to saving lives, the site reduces ambulance visits and hospital stays. The Downtown Eastside site will close Sept. 12 unless the federal government grants a continued 31/2-year exemption from Canada's narcotics law that permits drug users to inject drugs safely. Harper said in June he was waiting for assessments from the RCMP and other agencies before his government decides whether to extend that exemption. But according to a report by Simon Fraser University criminologist Raymond Corrado, obtained by CanWest News Service, Vancouver RCMP have reported "consistently positive" results for the site. Corrado says the site provides education to those who need it the most. There were no deaths from drug overdoses on site and few in the nearby areas. Binge drug use was down. The area around the injection site had less drug-related litter. And despite the fears of many people, drug use did not increase. The shortcomings, Corrado noted, were that there were "disappointingly few referrals to detoxification services, largely because clients usually did not meet the strict conditions required to access these services." Corrado's report is complemented by a second report, also by a B.C. criminologist, Irwin Cohen, that summarizes research on European supervised injection sites, which generally finds they have produced positive outcomes. However, RCMP Staff Sgt. John Ward said these assessments are "only part of our process of looking into" the question of supervised-injection sites and that the RCMP's position continues to be that it does not support any initiative that encourages drug use or any legalization of drugs currently prohibited in Canada. According to information accompanying the reports, Corrado's review was commissioned by Chief Supt. Derek Ogden, the RCMP director for drugs and organization crime. Ward said he could not confirm with absolute certainty that these particular reports were commissioned by the RCMP, although he guessed they had been, as the RCMP is in the midst of gathering information on supervised injection sites. Nor could he say if the reports had been sent to the prime minister's office or Health Canada. The RCMP did not support the exemption last time. But the city -- with former mayor Larry Campbell leading the way -- Vancouver police, the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and the provincial medical health officer did, which met Health Canada's requirement for political, police and community approval. Dr. David Marsh, the physician leader for addiction medicine for Vancouver Coastal Health, said Wednesday that all parties involved are still in the process of applying for another exemption. "We've had correspondence back and forth to clarify answers to questions they had, and now we're waiting for a final decision." Marsh couldn't say when the decision will come, but added that he hopes "it will be sooner rather than later." "As a clinician who's worked in the field for many years, I'm convinced there are people who would have died if their overdoses had happened anywhere else." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman