Pubdate: Thu, 29 May 2008 Source: Standard Freeholder (Cornwall, CN ON) Copyright: 2008 Osprey Media Group Inc Contact: http://www.standard-freeholder.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1169 Authors: James Keller, and Greg Joyce Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites) FEDS 'DISAPPOINTED' IN DRUG RULING The federal government is "obviously very disappointed" with a British Columbia court ruling striking down laws prohibiting possession and trafficking of drugs by those accessing help at supervised injection sites, Health Minister Tony Clement said Wednesday. The ruling, say some advocates and legal experts, could prompt injection-site proponents to try to launch other, similar facilities across Canada, though some acknowledged it's likely the case will have to survive appeals before that can happen. The B.C. Supreme Court ruling by Justice Ian Pitfield effectively granted a reprieve for Vancouver's controversial injection facility known as Insite. And it drew Clement's ire. "We disagree with the judgment," Clement bluntly told reporters in Ottawa. "Our government believes that the best way to deal with the health issues of drug addicts is to offer treatment and indeed to prevent people from getting on to illicit drugs in the first place." He also strongly suggested the Conservative government was always opposed to the facility's continued operation. "We don't consider it the best health outcome to keep people in a position where they continue to use the illicit drugs, to inject the illicit drugs." The ruling was greeted ecstatically by Insite supporters, who mused about the possibility of using the ruling to open similar facilities. "I think it opens the door to (try to lobby for more facilities)," Ann Livingston of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, said Wednesday. "They (health authorities and the province) would be chumps not to open another injection site. It's clearly what has shown to work. I think they can open them right now." Lawyer Monique Pongracic-Speier, who represented the group that runs Insite in the B.C. Supreme court case, said while the ruling won't force governments to provide similar sites, it will give health authorities and provinces the right to open them if they want. "If another site that opened was operating in substantially the same way as this supervised-consumption room, I can't see how there would be an argument against it." The facility began as a pilot project and has been allowed to continue to operate because of exemptions granted by the federal government under a section of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The latest exemption was to expire June 30. But the B.C. court ruling gives the federal government until June 30, 2009 to try to fix the drug law. In the meantime, Insite is exempt. Clement said the federal government is "examining our options" and any decision to appeal would be announced by Justice Minister Rob Nicholson. The judge wrote that denying access to the site ignores the illness of addiction and violates drug addicts' right - enshrined in Section 7 of the Charter - to life, liberty and security. "While there is nothing to be said in favour of the injection of controlled substances that leads to addiction, there is much to be said against denying addicts health-care services that will ameliorate the effects of their condition," he wrote. "I cannot agree with Canada's submission that an addict must feed his addiction in an unsafe environment when a safe environment that may lead to rehabilitation is the alternative." B.C.'s chief medical health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall called the decision "very humane." He discounted the possibility of pressure being put on the province to establish and fund more sites. But he said the ruling "potentially removes one of the inhibitions," which was that people were worried Insite would be closed or users and staff could face criminal charges. Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe said the provincial capital wants to follow Vancouver's lead and set up its own supervised facility. He said the ruling was promising. "I think it's a huge victory for those who support harm reduction principles," Lowe said. "If the federal government does not appeal this . . . a safe consumption site in Victoria could become a reality sooner than we had thought." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin