Pubdate: Wed, 29 Apr 2009
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Vancouver Courier
Contact:  http://www.vancourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474
Author: Mike Howell

INSITE DEFENDERS VOCAL AS FEDS SEEK APPEAL OF EXEMPTION

Renewed Court Battle This Week A Death Sentence For Addicts, Says NDP MLA

The federal government's decision to appeal a court ruling that 
allowed the city's drug injection site to remain open amounts to 
"bringing back the death penalty" for addicts, says the NDP MLA for 
Vancouver-Mount Pleasant.

Jenny Kwan, who is seeking re-election in the May 12 provincial 
election, made the comment at a press conference Monday outside the 
B.C. Court of Appeal on Smithe Street.

"[Prime Minister] Stephen Harper is in essence bringing back the 
death penalty for the drug addicted," she said on a plaza outside the 
courthouse. "He's condemning them to a life of death and diseases."

Kwan's comments coincided with the federal government's first day in 
the B.C. Court of Appeal. The government is attempting to overturn 
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ian Pitfield's 2008 ruling.

In May 2008, Pitfield granted staff and users of the Insite drug 
injection facility on East Hastings a constitutional exemption from 
the country's drug laws.

At the time, the site was a month away from the expiry of its 
operating licence under a contract with the federal government. 
Insite has operated under an exemption from the country's drug laws 
since September 2003. With Insite's closure looming last year, the 
PHS Community Services Society and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug 
Users initiated the case against the government. The PHS operates 
Insite under a contractual agreement with Vancouver Coastal Health.

Several peer-reviewed studies published in international medical 
journals concluded Insite is reducing the spread of infectious 
disease and leading some addicts to counselling, treatment and housing.

Monday's press conference attracted about 35 supporters, addicts and 
staff from the PHS, including Kwan's husband who is part of the 
nonprofit's management team.

Kwan joined PHS executive director Liz Evans, Simon Fraser University 
criminologist Neil Boyd, drug user Shelly Tomic and Patsy Thorpe, 
whose daughter died of a drug overdose before Insite opened. In 2007, 
the federal government commissioned Boyd to conduct research on 
Insite and determine whether it had an impact on crime in the 
Downtown Eastside.

The research ultimately "backfired" on the government because Boyd 
found Insite has a valuable contribution to make, said Evans, who 
introduced Boyd at the press conference.

Boyd discovered that Insite did not increase crime in "the 
surrounding area." He said it was also clear that Insite prevents 
overdose deaths and HIV infection--"a significant savings every year 
that Insite is open."

He dismissed criticism that Insite promotes drug use. "It's really so 
preposterous to imagine that you would go to Insite to enable 
yourself to develop an injection drug use habit," Boyd said.

Tomic, 40, noted nobody has died of a drug overdose at Insite, where 
staff conducted more than 2,300 "overdose interventions" since the 
facility opened.

"I'm not a bad person, I just made some bad choices but that don't 
mean I need to be condemned," said Tomic, who began injecting cocaine 
at 19. "All I can say is that the Insite has saved my life."

Thorpe's 21-year-old daughter Alexandra died in the summer of 2002 of 
a heroin overdose in a hotel room on East Hastings. Had Insite been 
opened, Thorpe believes her daughter would have used the site and 
possibly still be alive.

Thorpe, a nurse, pointed to the research showing that Insite is 
making a positive difference for addicts. She chided Harper for 
imposing "his ideological beliefs" instead of reviewing the science 
of the research. "These three days in appeal court with Ontario 
lawyers being flown here to fight something that Vancouverites and 
British Columbians want, shows a blatant disregard," Thorpe said.

Insite is the only legal injection site in North America. The Dr. 
Peter Centre at Comox and Thurlow has operated a three-stall 
injection room since February 2002 for people with deteriorating 
health caused by AIDS. The centre opened the injection room, without 
an exemption from the federal government, after consulting with the 
College of Registered Nurses and the centre's lawyer.

The Vancouver Police Department has no plans to shut it down.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart