Pubdate: Fri, 07 Jun 2013
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2013 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Elizabeth Payne

CONSERVATIVES ACCUSED OF POLITICIZING DRUG-INJECTION SITE, CITY 
DRUG-INJECTION SITE FACES NEW HURDLES

OTTAWA - Supporters of an Ottawa supervised injection site say they 
are disappointed that the federal government is politicizing a health 
issue with hurdles that would make it harder to open one here. But 
they remain undeterred in their push to bring one to Ottawa.

"It is the right thing to do. We know that this is an important 
intervention and we should continue to move ahead," said Dr. Mark 
Tyndall, head of infectious diseases at The Ottawa Hospital, and a 
strong supporter of an Ottawa safe injection site.

Groups pushing for a site here say there is a need - Ottawa has one 
of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the country among injection 
drug users, public drug use in parts of the city is skyrocketing and 
overdoses are also on the rise. According to a recent survey, there 
is also solid public support in Lowertown, where much of the public 
drug use is concentrated and where a site would likely be located if 
it is ever approved.

But those who have been working to open a supervised drug consumption 
site in Ottawa say rules outlined in a bill tabled by Health Minister 
Leona Aglukkaq on Thursday would seem to make it almost impossible in 
a city in which both the mayor and police chief have publicly said 
they oppose such a site. The bill, which lays out the criteria for 
getting a safe injection site, says the federal minister of health, 
who must approve exemptions to drug laws that would allow any future 
sites, should consider the views of local government, police, 
provincial politicians and health officials as well as the public. It 
is unclear whether the objections of a single group or members of the 
public - even if not directly affected by a site - could scuttle an 
application.

The new federal rules are in response to a 2011 Supreme Court ruling 
that found closing Vancouver's safe injection site would violate the 
Charter rights of people who need access to such sites to reduce the 
risk of blood-borne infections and overdoses.

Tyndall said the same health needs exist in Ottawa and the new rules 
proposed by the health minister, who emphasized law and order when 
she announced them Thursday, violate the spirit of that Supreme Court ruling.

"The government is making up new rules under the guise of public 
safety ... this is about people's health," he said.

"It misses the whole point of why we want to create a supervised 
injection site in Ottawa - because there is way too much HIV 
transmission and overdoses and too many people not engaged in any 
kind of care."

Tyndall said it is a myth that addiction treatment is an alternative 
to such sites, because there are not enough treatment programs and it 
is hard to engage many drug users without the help of a safe injection site.

Rob Boyd, director of the Oasis program at the Sandy Hill Community 
Health Centre and a key proponent of an Ottawa supervised injection 
site, said his visits to safe injection sites in Europe have 
convinced him that such a program would benefit Ottawa. What is more, 
he found that drug-affected communities embrace supervised drug 
centres. "It is not the big scary thing they thought it would be."

Typically, he said, communities that have injection drug users are 
among the biggest supporters of such sites. "You see an improvement 
in some of the public disorder issues related to drug use ... you now 
see it on streets, in parking garages, on front porches."

Boyd said he talked to a police officer at Vancouver's Insite who 
said it had made his job easier. "It becomes a source of pride to the 
local community."

Boyd added that he is concerned the new criteria to get a site 
requires positive input from local politicians. "It is not a fair 
place to put local politicians," he said, adding that good public 
health decisions and good political decisions are not always the same 
thing - which is one reason local public health boards are arms 
length from elected politicians.

Meanwhile, a group called Campaign for Safer Consumption Sites in 
Ottawa said many residents of Lowertown strongly support such a site 
in their area. Seventy eight per cent of 100 people surveyed said 
they support a site.

Greg Cameron of the organization said he worries the federal 
government is counting on NIMBY-ism from the broader community, which 
is likely not as supportive as the immediate neighbourhood, to 
prevent any new sites from opening.

"I think they are trying to pass the buck and rely on public fears 
and the stigma against drug users as an excuse for denying them 
health services. I think that's shameful."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom