Pubdate: Wed, 05 Oct 2011
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2011 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/letters.html
Website: http://www.montrealgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites)
Bookmark: mapinc.org/topic/Insite

SAFE-INJECTION SITES IN MONTREAL? PLAN CAREFULLY

In a landmark ruling late last week, the Supreme Court of Canada 
issued a sharp rebuke to the federal government's attempt to shut 
down Vancouver's safe-injection site for intravenous drug users, and 
in the process opened the way for other such facilities across the 
country, including in Montreal.

The ruling declared that the Insite facility, in operation for the 
past eight years, should be allowed to remain open because the 
"harmreduction" service it provides outweighs the flouting of 
Canada's drug law entailed in its operation. It is noteworthy that 
the ruling came backed by a unanimous vote of the top court's nine judges.

It was also widely hailed - though not in large-C and small-c 
conservative circles, where such facilities are decried as 
legitimized shooting galleries for scofflaw junkies. Among those 
applauding the ruling within hours were the Liberal and New Democrat 
health critics, the Canadian Public Health Association, the Canadian 
Medical Association, the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario 
and the mayor of Vancouver.

It is notable that the court deftly sidestepped the jurisdictional 
arguments raised during hearings in the case. Federal lawyers had 
held that it was a matter of enforcing criminal drug laws, which are 
within Ottawa's purview, while British Columbia's lawyers maintained 
that Insite falls under health-care policy, which is a provincial prerogative.

Rather, the argument that was critical to the court's decision was 
that of health-care professionals who have determined that the 
facility, where addicts can inject their own drugs with guaranteed 
clean needles and under the supervision of nurses, saves lives (in 
preventing overdoses) and prevents the spread of deadly infections 
such as HIV and Hepatitis C.

The court concluded that shutting down Insite would amount to an 
ideologically driven move that would deprive Insite clientele of 
Charter of Rights protections for life and security of the person, 
and effectively deny them fundamental justice. Chief Justice Beverley 
McLachlin wrote on behalf of the court: "The potential denial of 
health services and the correlative increase in the risk of death and 
disease to injection drug users outweigh any benefits that might be 
derived from maintaining an absolute prohibition on possession of 
illegal drugs on Insite's premises."

Little evidence has been produced that Insite aggravated illegal drug 
use. But there have been numerous scientific studies, peerreviewed 
and published in prestigious journals, that concluded the facility 
saved lives, decreased crime in its neighbourhood, encouraged 
rehabilitation and was of general benefit to public health.

But for all its documented health benefits, Insite is by no means a 
panacea. The fact is that it does enable the consumption of illegal 
and dangerous drugs. It should also be taken into consideration by 
advocates of such facilities that Insite was a very specific response 
to a very localized situation - Vancouver's skid row Downtown 
Eastside - for which there is no really comparable equivalent in 
other Canadian cities, including Montreal.

Any extension of the Insite experiment should be carefully planned, 
with a strict emphasis on treating addicts and steering them into 
rehabilitation programs rather than merely offering an accommodating 
place to indulge nasty habits. Its ultimate effect should be to 
reduce, not maintain or increase, the number of addicts. The location 
for such sites should also be scrupulously chosen, with due respect 
and consideration for neighbouring residents and businesses.

Failure to observe such precautions would see public support for what 
now stands as an enlightened ruling quickly deteriorate.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom