Pubdate: Sat, 06 Jun 2015
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.montrealgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Page: B5

SAFE SITES ARE NEEDED

Mayor Denis Coderre is right to stand up to the federal government on
the issue of supervised drug-injection sites in Montreal. After years
of study and consultation - followed by the approval of $2.6 million
in annual provincial funding - city officials announced on Thursday
that they have asked Health Canada to grant an exemption under the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that would allow the creation of
three supervised injection sites and one mobile injection unit.

There were predictable objections from Justice Minister Peter MacKay.
His Conservative government is not friendly to such sites, arguing
that they facilitate the use of illegal drugs and can pose a danger to
the communities where they are located. However Coderre has
jurisprudence and an overwhelming body of scientific evidence on his
side.

Despite the presence of needle-exchange programs and numerous groups
that work with addicts, 25 people died last year in Montreal after
injecting drugs. Dozens of others came close to death due to overdose,
and it's unclear how many more may have contracted serious infections
after using soiled drug paraphernalia. The numbers would certainly
have been lower had those people been provided with supervised, clean
spaces to use drugs without fear of arrest.

Arguments against the establishment of safe injection sites in urban
centres have become increasingly tenuous. The 90 now established
across the globe - including Vancouver's Insite - have had a
measurable impact on public health, and the Supreme Court of Canada
ruled in 2011 that denying Insite the right to operate was
unconstitutional because it deprived people of access to potentially
life-saving medical care.

The notion that injection sites attract hordes of addicts to host
neighbourhoods is based more in fear than in fact. If anything, the
sites help to improve community health by getting IV drug users -
already present - off the streets and into an environment where they
are more likely to have access to rehabilitation programs. The sites
have also been shown to reduce the number of used needles discarded in
public spaces, and have slowed the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C.

So why not simply offer these services in clinics or hospitals? That
may seem like a viable option, but users often shy away from
traditional health-care institutions for fear of judgment. Resources
must come to them.

The mayor, not known for mincing words, has said the facilities will
open this fall, and that's the end of it. Indeed. It's time to move
forward with supervised injection sites and provide a needed service
to a highly vulnerable population - with or without Ottawa's approval.
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MAP posted-by: Matt