Pubdate: Fri, 22 Aug 2008
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 Vancouver Courier
Contact:  http://www.vancourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474
Author: Mike Howell
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/insite
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites)

FEDS SAY DRUG INJECTION CENTRE OFFERS 'NO HOPE'

Capri Agrees That Emphasis Should Be On Prevention And Treatment

If re-elected in November, NPA Coun. Kim Capri says, she will spend 
any money available for drug addiction on treatment and 
prevention--not on another supervised injection site.

Capri said she supports the Insite injection site on East Hastings, 
but she said more money and effort must be directed at preventing 
people from drug use and treating those who are addicted.

"The evidence that Vancouver city council has been relying on from 
both the academic community and the medical community is indicative 
of a reduction in harm so we've remained supportive [of Insite]," 
Capri told the Courier.

She pointed out the city is recognized internationally for providing 
a supervised injection site for addicts--the only legal site in North 
America. But Capri wants the same recognition one day for treatment 
and prevention measures.

"To me that would be a victory and really worth celebrating," she added.

Capri's comments come the same week that federal Health Minister Tony 
Clement delivered a speech to the Canadian Medical Association and 
again questioned the success of Insite.

Clement said Insite offers "no hope" and is "a surrender to a culture 
of disease and death." He also questioned the ethics of health 
professionals witnessing addicts taking illegal drugs at Insite, 
where he said overdoses occur regularly.

"In this way the supervised injection site undercuts the ethic of 
medical practice and sets a debilitating example for all physicians 
and nurses, both present and future in Canada, who might begin to 
question whether it's all right to allow someone to overdose under 
their care," said Clement in his speech, which was obtained by the Courier.

Capri didn't hear the minister's speech or read a copy. But she 
agrees with Clement that the focus of tackling the city's drug 
problem should be on prevention and treatment. Clement said he would 
prefer Insite remain open with a changed mandate of prevention and 
treatment instead of drug maintenance.

NPA mayoral candidate Peter Ladner, who is a city councillor, said he 
agrees that the city should focus on treatment and prevention for 
drug addicts. But Ladner said efforts in those areas shouldn't come 
at the expense of Insite, which he supports.

"The whole purpose of Insite, as I see it, is to reduce disease and 
death, and I think it's often overlooked that Insite was set up in 
large part as a response to an AIDS epidemic which continues in the 
Downtown Eastside."

Ladner said he won't lobby for more injection sites, noting the 
federal government recently gave the city $10 million towards 
treatment. If elected, Ladner said he won't continue to lobby Ottawa 
to approve Mayor Sam Sullivan's CAST, or Chronic Addiction 
Substitution Treatment program.

Sullivan's program calls for medical doctors to prescribe legal drugs 
to up to 800 drug addicts. Ladner said the program's flaw is that it 
assumes drug addicts will never lose their dependency on illegal drugs.

"You have to always aim at abstinence rather than maintenance," he said.

Sullivan has told the Courier that he tailored his drug policy 
approach to what the ruling Conservative government wanted. Although 
Ladner said he will work with senior levels of government, he will 
not fashion his approach to the government of the day.

"I don't see that I would adjust my policy based on who's in power," 
Ladner said. "You make the most of whatever you can get of whoever is 
in power, obviously. But you maintain your position based on what you 
believe in."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom