Pubdate: Wed, 26 Jun 2013
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2013 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Daniel Bitonti

SOUTH AMERICANS ARRIVE TO STUDY SAFE-INJECTION SITE

A group of South American health professionals is looking to follow 
Vancouver's lead in reducing harm when it comes to injection-drug use.

The South American delegation, which arrived in Vancouver on Tuesday, 
will spend three days meeting with local healthcare providers and 
researchers, including managers at Insite, Vancouver's supervised 
injection-drug clinic.

The visit, however, comes at a time when safe-injection sites 
continue to face political opposition in Canada, and Insite remains a 
one-of-a-kind facility in the country.

The South American delegation is made up of representatives from 
health organizations in Brazil and Colombia.

"Canada is one of the countries with one of the best harm-reduction 
programs. And Vancouver is a city that has a program for drug users 
that is not only one of the most advanced, but is also very 
sophisticated," said Ines Mejia, a consultant with the Colombian 
health ministry, through a translator. "We want to use what you have 
here in our country, which is only starting to have a heroin drug 
addiction [problem]. We want to use the model of harm reduction."

Ms. Mejia says while marijuana and cocaine continue to be the most 
used drugs in Colombia, heroin is becoming more common in several 
pockets across the country.

Vancouver's Insite clinic - where addicts can administer drugs with 
clean syringes and under supervision - has garnered praise both in 
Canada and abroad. Studies published on the clinic have indicated 
that the program has resulted in a drop in public injections in back 
alleys and doorways. Part of Insite's mandate is also to connect drug 
users with other services, whether that be treatment for drug related 
abscesses or dental care.

Ms. Mejia says that harm reduction is not a concept that has taken 
firm root in Colombia, and government resources are mostly used to 
combat the drug supply, including fighting drug lords and getting rid 
of illegal plantations.

"We have to sell what we see here and go back home and show the need 
for it," she said. "To see the drug user as a human being, the focus 
on the humanity, the concept of reducing suffering."

But Insite workers say they can't help but see a bit of irony in 
workers from other countries looking at Canada for leadership.

Insite has always operated under an exception from current drug laws. 
The federal Conservatives, who have long shown their distaste for 
injection drug sites since coming to office, ended Insite's exemption 
in 2008, although the clinic continued to function while the decision 
was challenged in the courts.

The Supreme Court eventually ruled in 2011 that the federal 
government has the jurisdictional right to use criminal law to 
restrict illicit-drug use, but that the concerns it cited in an 
attempt to close Insite were "grossly disproportionate" to the 
benefits for drug users and the community. Therefore, the court 
ruled, Insite could continue to operate.

But a new bill tabled by the Conservatives in early June of this year 
would make it more difficult for new injection sites to open, 
health-care advocates say.

The Respect For Communities Act would require the federal government 
to consider the views of police, provincial ministers and local 
government officials before granting a clinic an exemption to drug laws.

The federal health minister would also consult with public health 
officials and community groups to determine the clinic's financial 
sustainability.

"[Insite] is actually saving lives and helping the community in a 
very effective way," said Liz Evans, the executive director of the 
Portland Hotel Society, the organization that co-manages Insite. "But 
it's incredibly frustrating that we get it, and folks from other 
countries look to it, but in our own country our federal government 
is not acknowledging how important it is."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom