Pubdate: Mon, 27 Jul 2015
Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Vancouver 24 hrs.
Contact: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/letters
Website: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3837
Author: Petr Pospisil
Note: Petr Pospisil an educator, musician, union and social 
organizer. He studied genetics at UBC and co-created 
www.crackshackormansion.com
Page: 6

The Duel

This Week's Topic: Are Safe Injection Sites Like Insite in 
Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Good Public Policy?

INSITE SAVES LIVES AND GIVES ADDICTS A CHANCE TO CLEAN UP

We know addiction results in violence, depression, illness and early 
death. We've learned how addiction can devastate families, friends, 
and colleagues. We have seen people-once children full of potential - 
become addicts contorting their bodies in the middle of busy streets, 
pestering citizens for change, or selling their bodies.

People of all income levels are affected. Yet addiction imposes the 
stiffest penalties on those living in the Downtown Eastside, 
sometimes with mental illness, often with no support network.

Insite is a medical facility in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside where 
users inject drugs under the supervision of medical staff.

Some believe Insite encourages criminality by promoting drugs. Many 
feel this facilitation of drug use sends mixed messages about the 
dangers of drugs. However, no credible evidence supports those opinions.

Since opening in 2003, fewer needles litter the streets, overdose 
deaths in the vicinity have dropped by 35%, and there has been a 
reduction in HIV infections. At Insite, unlike in the crevices of 
society, addicts have the opportunity to engage with medical staff. 
They are offered health care and addiction treatment.

Not a single death has occurred under Insite's caring supervision. No 
shared needles, no hiding in alleys. According to clinical 
coordinator Tim Gauthier, Insite handled 30 ODs on the 2014 
Thanksgiving weekend alone. Would we have preferred many of those 
died in the streets?

Even the Vancouver Police Department recognizes Insite's value. They 
often issue advisories to the public recommending addicts use it services.

But the federal government wants Insite, and its innumerable 
services, terminated. Instead of supporting a clearly effective 
program, they fought a long court battle against Vancouver-Coastal 
Health and the B.C. Ministry of Health. The Supreme Court ruled 
unanimously that the closing of Insite is unconstitutional. Chief 
Justice McLaughlin wrote, "Insite saves lives. Its benefits have been 
proven. There has been no discernible negative impact on the public 
safety and health objectives of Canada during its eight years of operation."

The Conservatives haven't listened, and recently rammed Bill C-2 
through Parliament as an obstacle to new treatment centres, and a 
nuisance to existing ones.

The most common drugs seen at Insite - heroin, powdered cocaine, and 
pharmaceutical opiates, which hijack the brain and cause intense 
cravings and physical pain. Insite gives the lowest echelon of 
society a chance to overcome their demons. Let's applaud the 
dedicated workers of Insite and other DTES organizations that care 
for our most vulnerable.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom