Pubdate: Tue, 31 May 2011 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) Page: A1 Copyright: 2011 Times Colonist Contact: http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html Website: http://www.timescolonist.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481 Author: Bill Cleverley Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites) Bookmark; http://mapinc.org/topic/Insite HARM REDUCTION: LIFESAVER OR TRAP? From a safe injection site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to Victoria's former troubled needle exchange on Cormorant Street, no aspect of addiction services grabs more headlines than harm reduction. For advocates, harm reduction is a lifesaver and a possible introduction to a better life. It's a non-judgmental contact point where someone struggling with addiction might, along with the health benefit of getting clean needles or crack kits, ask for help to get clean and sober. It's a chance to keep people alive until they are ready for treatment. "The old saying in harm reduction is that you can't treat someone who's dead," says Victoria Coun. Philippe Lucas. He argues that handing out clean needles is about keeping people alive and reducing the spread of disease. "Keeping people alive through their alcohol and drug using has to be a main goal of getting people into treatment." Others say it's enabling addicts and trapping them in their addiction. And that it's a service that society only finds acceptable for street-level addicts and alcoholics - not for their parents, children or friends. David Berner, executive director of the abstinencebased Drug Prevention Network of Canada, says "harm reduction" is really "harm seduction." "It's bad science because it doesn't recognize the science of addiction," he says. "Addicts want more. You can give them a clean place to shoot up at 10: 15 in the morning and at 2: 30 they're in a back alley doing what they always do because that's who they are and that's what they do. "It's bad ethics because it's ugly and immoral. It's like walking up to a drunk and handing him a clean shot glass. It's counter intuitive. . And it's really bad public policy because we have to spend public dollars efficiently and wisely." Over the past 15 years, the harm reduction philosophy has been embraced by the province. It is at the foundation of virtually all provincially funded addictions services. Those services have steadily expanded and now include clean needle and crack pipe distribution; supervised consumption sites to prevent overdose deaths; methadone maintenance treatment; and education and outreach teams. This year, Victoria council backed a policy paper that argued the city should consider incorporating harm reduction opportunities in its social housing strategy. The proposal foresees the possible inclusion of supervised injection sites or provision of alcohol at supportive housing complexes. But the issue is coming to a head. This month, the Supreme Court of Canada heard arguments about Insite, the safe injection site that has been operating in Vancouver for eight years. The court has to decide whether the facility falls under provincial or federal jurisdiction. The federal government argues that its Criminal Code jurisdiction trumps the provincial responsibility of health care. If the court rules in the federal government's favour, the facility could be shut down. If it rules in the province's favour, more sites will likely pop up around the country - perhaps including Victoria, where advocates have been vocal about the need. Yet society remains skeptical about harmreduction services. Victoria's fixed-site needle exchange closed in 2008 due to repeated disturbances, criminal activity, violence and refuse. Since then, attempts to find a home for a needle exchange or distribution system have been met with community objections. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom