Pubdate: Mon, 17 Aug 2015
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Authors: Elizabeth Church and Verity Stevenson
Page: A5

INJECTION-SITE ADVOCATES WARY OF ELECTION

Proponents of supervised centres move forward with expansion plans
even as the issue becomes a political football

Supporters of supervised drug-injection sites, such as Vancouver's
Insite, are keeping a cautious eye on the federal vote, with Stephen
Harper vowing to fight their expansion and questioning their benefits
as he looks to highlight his government's tough-on-drugs agenda.

The latest challenge, laid out by Mr. Harper during a campaign stop
last week in a suburban Toronto riding, comes as Montreal prepares to
become, as early as this fall, the second Canadian city to offer a
medically supervised setting for injection drug users. It also comes
as drug overdoses and deaths linked to fentanyl are making headlines
and as groups in Toronto and Ottawa continue to cautiously work to
build support for future sites.

Mr. Harper brought up the topic during a policy announcement, saying
NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau would
welcome "heroin injection sites" into more neighbourhoods. The data
are "very mixed" on supervised injection sites, he said, responding to
questions. He added that Canadians do not want them in their
neighbourhood because they understand that such a site "flows the
entire drug trade into that community."

Both the Liberals and the New Democrats are in favour of supervised
injection sites, and a Supreme Court of Canada ruling said Insite
saves lives.

In Montreal, Daniel Boucher sees first-hand what having to shoot up in
the streets is like - he sees it in his work for the community
organization Cactus, distributing needles, and he experienced it
himself while he was homeless for more than five years.

"The main thing is homeless people use injectable drugs - they do it
in the streets, under the rain, in sight of everyone, in parks, they
are seen, they get busted," Mr. Boucher said.

The most important benefit of a supervised injection site, he said, is
its proximity to users. "I think I would have spent less time in the
street, trying to find myself if I had the appropriate help [close],"
he said.

Cactus is one of three groups in Montreal seeking to provide safe
injection sites under a city plan with funding from the province. The
organization also would run a mobile unit. Montreal Mayor Denis
Coderre has vowed to open the sites and last week his office repeated
that pledge.

"As the Montreal mayor said several times in the beginning of June,
there will be supervised injection sites in the city. The mayor will
make announcements in due time," Mr. Coderre's spokeswoman, Catherine
Maurice, said in an e-mail.

Louis Letellier, chairman of the Cactus board of directors, confirmed
the intention to open the sites this fall, whether the federal
government responds or not. "We're going to open - it's that simple -
and then we'll face the music," he said. As long as the Quebec
government provides its support - which it has "without hesitation,"
Mr. Letellier said - the plan is to be defiant.

The Conservative government passed Bill C-2 in the spring, legislation
that includes a long list of requirements for any group seeking the
exemption from Health Canada that is required under the Controlled
Drugs and Substances Act to establish a supervised injection site.

Health Canada said in a statement that it is not its practice to
comment on the status of an application, noting that any request has
to meet the requirements of the act, "including community
consultations."

Others in Toronto and Ottawa are watching closely.

"There are active conversations in Toronto among healthcare
professionals and people in the harm-reduction world about a potential
application, "said Councillor Gord Perks, former chair of the Toronto
Drug Strategy Implementation Panel.

Under federal rules, any effort to establish a safe injection site
would require the support of the city's mayor and police chief. A
spokesman for Chief Mark Saunders said the recently appointed head of
the Toronto police force believes that "they cause enormous damage to
neighbourhoods where they are located and believes there are other
harm-reduction methods that are preferable." Mayor John Tory's office
did not offer a position, saying in a statement that the issue is not
under consideration at this time.

In Ottawa, Sandy Hill Health Services's harm-reduction program, Oasis,
is moving ahead with an application for an exemption, despite
opposition from Mayor Jim Watson and Police Chief Charles Bordeleau's
public opposition.

"We're confident that once we have our proposal together, the mayor
and the chief of police will be able to review that and they hopefully
will agree that, with our experience working with this community, we
do have the expertise and the abilities to be able to manage a service
like this," Oasis nursing team leader Luc Cormier said.

Patricia Daly, chief medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal
Health, said she had expected other cities to open sites following the
Supreme Court ruling. The fact that they have not, she said, is an
important issue to raise during the election campaign.

As for Mr. Harper's assertions, she said they are not reflective of
the experience in Vancouver. "Insite is not increasing drug use among
young people. It is not leading to increased crime. It is not making
it easier to access drugs," she said. "Insite has been part of the
solution. It is not part of the problem."

Daniel Werb, director of the International Centre for Science in Drug
Policy, located at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital, said Insite has
been the subject of rigorous research that has shown it has gone
beyond its original mandate of reducing harm and public disorder, with
studies showing that its clients are more likely to seek treatment.

Dr. Werb recently received funding for a multi-year study of the role
that supervised injection sites play in preventing potential
injection-drug users from ever trying it by limiting their exposure to
experienced users.

Mr. Harper's characterization of supervised injection sites, he said,
is "fear mongering, plain and simple."
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