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.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D