Pubdate: Sat, 15 Aug 2015
Source: London Free Press (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 The London Free Press
Contact: http://www.lfpress.com/letters
Website: http://www.lfpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/243
Author: Emanuela Campanella,
Page: A4

SUPERVISED INJECTIONS?

As the number of needles handed out to drug users continues to soar in
London, those who distribute them are calling for supervised injections 
services.

The service - different from a safe injection site - would provide an
area monitored by a health-care professional in existing services
throughout the city for those looking to shoot up safely.

"This is a really effective tool to reduce overdose deaths, to help
connect people to treatment programs, to reduce the spread of HIV, and
to reduce the incidents of public injecting and also inappropriately
discarded needles," said Brian Lester, executive director of Regional
HIV/AIDS Connection.

With more than 2.5 million needles distributed in London last year,
supervised injection services would reduce the users shooting up in
public places and discarding used needles on the street, Lester said.

The dramatic increase in needle distribution over the years has
sparked concern by residents about needles ending up in places they
shouldn't.

Tom Cull, director of Thames River Rally, a volunteer organization
that regularly cleans the river, said his team has cleaned out more
than 1,000 needles over the years.

"I have a pile of full needle containers in my shed from this year
alone," Cull said.

He supports providing clean needles for those in need but is worried
about the environment.

"It would be great if we could figure out a way that that stuff does
not end up in our green spaces and in the river because those things
do have an impact."

The city has 17 safe disposal bins but Cull wants to see more added,
especially around the river and parks. "I would like to see the needle
bins included in a larger initiative to handle the litter problem in
this city," he said.

Having supervised injection services around town would also reduce the
amount of needles collected by him and his team, Cull said.

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THE BACK STORY

Federal government opposes injection sites, saying they would lead to
greater drug use, more organized crime and a deterioration of
community life. Regional HIV/AIDS Connection in London has applied to
the Ontario HIV/AIDS Treatment Network to explore the feasibility of
supervised injection services in London. If approved, it would need
federal approval before anything is launched. Under Bill C-2, the
Respect for Communities Act, facilities that want supervised injection
services must meet a list of requirements, including approval from
local police, statistics on crime and inappropriately discarded drug
paraphernalia close to the site, and consultation with the community.

WHAT OTHERS SAID

Sonja Burke, a director at Regional HIV/AIDS Connection: She said 
providing a safe space through supervised injection services ensures 
that no one overdoses, and could potentially connect them with other 
services to help get users off drugs. "Maybe they need connections for 
housing, maybe they need connections for health care, but you have the 
person there and you are providing them a safe place where they feel 
that they can actually access other services."

Coun. Jesse Helmer: One of the new elements in a four-year strategic 
plan the city is working on is a mental health and addiction strategy. 
The city will discuss the strategy throughout the fall before deciding 
on its new budget. Helmer said he wouldn't rule out having supervised 
injection services but the city would need to have evidence that such a 
program would work.
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