Pubdate: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2012 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/letters.html Website: http://www.montrealgazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: James Mennie Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites) CITY OPPOSES DOWNTOWN INJECTION SITES Tremblay Finds Idea Unacceptable The city of Montreal has aligned itself with downtown residents opposed to locating a supervised injection site at a local needle exchange, reiterating its position that such a facility should be established in an existing medical facility like a hospital or CLSC. "What people are saying is that they don't want a (SIS) at Cactus," Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay told reporters on Tuesday, referring to a Sanguinet St. community centre and needle exchange that has been cited as a possible site for a SIS. "We forwarded a pile of documents to the (health) minister ... saying that it would not be acceptable. "If the government wants to establish SIS, they should do so in public-health facilities," Tremblay said. "We don't want them concentrated downtown. we're ready to face the reality, but not in an area where certain government officials want them located." Tremblay said the Hopital Ste. Jeanne D'arc and the Centre Dollard Cormier, a rehabilitation centre for addicts, are two possible homes for SIS. Louis Letellier, president of Cactus, criticized the mayor for "taking a politician's viewpoint" on the issue. "This is unbelievable," Letellier said, insisting that the vast majority of drug users won't use a government run health care facility. "These people will still knock on the same doors. People will still come to us for clean needles." A coalition of local residents' groups is concerned about a recommendation made last December that the downtown borough be home to one of three SIS to serve the Montreal area, along with a mobile SIS that could be deployed where needed. The recommendations were contained in a report prepared by Montreal's public health department in an effort to stem the number of overdose deaths and the spread of HIV and hepatitis C caused by shared or reused syringes. The coalition has called upon provincial health authorities to set up SIS in all regions of Quebec to reduce the number of out of town addicts who are already being referred to social service centres in downtown Montreal. Cactus - the site of a free needle exchange since 1989 - has been identified as a likely location for a SIS. The community centre has prepared plans that would see six cubicles used to provide as many as 100 nurse-supervised injections a day. In an earlier interview, Cactus spokesperson Jean-francois Mary said opposition to SIS lessened once the manner in which the centres operate was explained. He also questioned the city's stand on locating SIS in medical facilities, noting that more than 90 per cent of intravenous addicts do not use the medical system. The number of intravenous drug users in Montreal has been estimated between 15,000 and 25,000. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom