Pubdate: Sat, 7 Jun 2008
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 The Vancouver Sun
Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Tobin Dalrymple, Canwest News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Insite (Insite)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites)

CANADIANS GIVE INSITE THUMBS-UP

Over 50 Per Cent Polled Say Heroin Injection Centre Should Stay Open

A majority of Canadians say it's "a good thing" heroin addicts in 
Vancouver have a supervised, legal place to shoot up, according to 
results from a poll conducted this week for Canwest News Service and 
Global National.

An Ipsos Reid poll released Friday suggests 55 per cent of Canadians 
feel the East Hastings centre Insite is "a good thing" and 54 per 
cent thought it should remain exempt from the country's drug laws, 
despite a Conservative government appeal to shut it down.

"I think this actually offers the government an opportunity to decide 
whether it wants to present itself as a law-and-order government, 
versus a compassionate, sensitive government," said John Wright, 
Ipsos Reid senior vice-president.

"It's a tricky issue for them, it's not an overwhelming majority (of 
Canadian support) and it is fraught with contradictions."

Insite has been a sore point for politicians and health experts since 
it opened in 2003, and debates have flared over whether the centre is 
medically legitimate or simply a safe house for criminal behaviour.

Insite provides a supervised environment and clean needles for heroin 
and other illegal drug addicts.

Participants were asked whether they thought the supervised injection 
centre, which health experts argue saves lives and prevents overdoses 
and the spread of disease, is a "good thing," a "bad thing," or if 
they weren't sure. Forty per cent said they felt Insite was "bad." 
Five per cent didn't know or refused to answer.

The poll was conducted June 3-5, one week after a B.C. Supreme Court 
judge extended the site's exemption from drug laws and said it could 
remain open indefinitely.

Health Minister Tony Clement says the government will appeal the 
decision, saying the issue is not a medical one and the science 
supporting safe injections is mixed.

Another question participants answered was whether they thought 
Insite should be expanded to other major cities across the country. 
Half (50 per cent) said "yes." Another 46 per cent said "no" and five 
per cent didn't know or refused to answer.

"There are many people saying 'I'm fine with this taking place, but 
I'm not fine with it in my own backyard,'" said Wright.

Quebecers were the most likely to say safe injection is "good," with 
66 per cent of the province agreeing, followed by Alberta (58 per 
cent), Atlantic Canada (55 per cent), British Columbia (54 per cent), 
Ontario (49 per cent) and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (45 per cent).

The poll also found a split between rural and urban populations. 
Those in urban settings (57 per cent) have a higher tendency than 
those in rural settings (50 per cent) to agree Insite is a "good thing."

"Urban dwellers are more likely to accept this, as probably part of a 
visible circumstance," Wright said. "(Drug use) is less in evidence 
in some communities, so they treat it as a law-and-order issue rather 
than a compassion-and-health issue."

The poll, which surveyed 1,000 adults by telephone, is considered 
accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The safe-injection issue also surfaced in other parts of the country 
this week when Quebec Health Minister Phillippe Couillard said 
Wednesday his government is considering opening similar sites in Quebec. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake