Pubdate: Mon, 16 Nov 2015
Source: Northumberland Today (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Sun Media
Contact: http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/letters
Website: http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5003
Author: Giuseppe Valiante
Page: 6

SAFE-INJECTION ADVOCATES OPTIMISTIC

Activists in Quebec expect new federal government to approve plans

MONTREAL - Quebec healthcare workers and politicians say they expect
the new federal government to approve their application for
supervised, illicit-drug injection sites in Montreal, which will make
the city the second in Canada to host the controversial harm-reduction
program.

But some are warning the strict law passed before the Conservatives
left office will mean potential injection site operators will have to
navigate a complicated legal maze aimed at preventing these sites from
opening.

The chairman of the health centre expected to house Montreal's first
legal injection site said he has "no doubt" the new Liberal health
minister will approve the application after months of what he calls
Conservative "stalling."

Louis Letellier de St-Just said if the project calling for three,
fixed safe-injection locations and one mobile unit gets approved
quickly, it might be up and running by next fall.

"The project will certainly get the go-ahead from the (new) federal
health minister, so we are thrilled," said Letellier de St-Just, whose
community health centre, Cactus Montreal, has been working with drug
users and sex workers for decades.

A City of Montreal spokeswoman said Mayor Denis Coderre was also
confident that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government
would approve the proposal.

Health Canada refused to comment on Montreal's application, but the
Liberals' election platform stated its support of supervised injection
sites, saying they "decrease the risk of death and disease for those
living with addiction and mental illness, reduce crime, and protect
public health and safety."

Currently, Vancouver is the only city in Canada where intravenous drug
users can inject themselves with illegal substances under supervision
of nurses and other health care staff.

Proponents of these facilities say the sites offer a clean and safe
location for drug users as opposed to the street, and where addicts
can be directed towards treatment programs.

Critics say the sites encourage drug use, attract drug users and say
governments shouldn't be subsidizing centres where people consume
illegal substances.

The previous Conservative government took the latter view, and its
efforts to close the Vancouver centre, called Insite, were stopped by
the Supreme Court of Canada in 2011.

The high court ruled the government couldn't deny health services to
addicts in the city's Downtown Eastside.

In response to the ruling, the Tories passed legislation in June which
makes it "virtually impossible" for new sites to open in the country,
said Anna Marie D'Angelo, with Vancouver's Insite.

Cities seeking a supervised injection site need approval from the
federal government through an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act.

The Tory law - known as C-2 - forces potential injection site
operators to provide the government with crime statistics and other
neighbourhood data as well as criminal background checks of potential
employees and an accounting of any local opposition to the project.

"Compiling all these statistics year in and year out is very onerous,"
D'Angelo said. "We don't think it could be very easily accomplished
for a new centre."

Donald MacPherson, professor at Simon Fraser University and director
of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition said in the past, exemptions
were allowed to "facilitate innovation and health care."

"But Bill C-2 is very much not in that vein and puts obstacles in
front of people," he said, calling on the Liberals to "repeal or
radically alter" the law.

But not all health-care workers are open to supervised injection
facilities.

Seychelle Harding, spokeswoman for Montreal's Portage addiction
centre, said her organization isn't necessarily against the sites, but
adds public money shouldn't be diverted from rehabilitation programs
to fund them.

She said the injection sites can benefit a "small and highly
marginalized" group of people resistant to treatment and also help to
reduce the transmission of HIV and other infections.

Harding cautioned that supervised injection sites are a public safety
measure, not a replacement for treatment and rehabilitation.

"Anything that can save lives or limit the propagation of infections
is a good thing," Harding said. "It's clear that we don't want the
money dedicated to treatment to be reduced."
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MAP posted-by: Matt