Pubdate: Fri, 14 Feb 2014 Source: Metro (Vancouver, CN BC) Copyright: 2014 Metro Canada Contact: http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3775 Author: Matt Kieltyka INJECTION SITE SEEKS APPROVAL AFTER 12 YEARS IN OPERATION The supervised injection site at Vancouver's Dr. Peter Centre has been open for 12 years without approval from Health Canada. Vancouver Coastal Health and the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation announced Thursday that they have submitted a formal application to Health Canada for an exemption from federal drug laws to, once and for all, clear the legal air about its status. The Centre has been providing a nurse-supervised injection space since it and Insite jointly applied for federal exemption in 2003. Insite was approved, but an apparent clerical error that went unnoticed meant that the Dr. Peter Centre's supervised injection site has been operating without the required approvals for more than a decade. "They thought it had been granted," said VCH chief medical health officer Dr. Patricia Daly. "The Dr. Peter contract has come under VCH for the last year, so we wanted to get this done." Daly said there have been no legal or regulatory issues with the existence of the supervised injection site, but formal approval would allow the health authority to roll supervised injection services into other health care services in the future. Maxine Davis, executive director of the Dr. Peter Centre, says its renewed application includes letters of support from the City of Vancouver, Government of British Columbia, Vancouver Police Department, West End Residents Association, West End Business Improvement Association and many other community organizations. Given the federal government's firm opposition to supervised injection sites, she preferred not to speculate on what a denied application would mean. "We'd certainly need to consider our legal options at that point," she said, stressing that supervised injections are a legal medical service. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D