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. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart