Pubdate: Thu, 28 Jan 2016
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Vancouver Courier
Contact:  http://www.vancourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474
Author: Mike Howell
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites)

MORE INJECTION SITES PLANNED

Vancouver Coastal Health is pushing ahead with a plan to provide more 
supervised drug injection sites in the city and open them in existing 
community health centres.

Dr. Patricia Daly, chief medical health officer for the health 
authority, said the plan is in its early stages and involves 
examining which health centres have the greatest need for the service.

"If we put in another application [to Health Canada], it will be for 
more than one site," Daly told the Courier by telephone this week. 
"It wouldn't be for 10, but it would probably be for a handful of 
sites to start with. We've got a few that we're considering but I 
don't want to publicly say them right now."

Up until last week, Vancouver's only legal injection site was Insite 
on East Hastings, a facility that opened in September 2003. The Dr. 
Peter Centre, which caters to people with AIDS and those dealing with 
mental health and addictions issues, has operated an injection room 
for its clients since February 2002.

Last week, Health Canada officially granted the Centre an exemption 
under the country's drug laws to continue operating what has been a 
technically illegal three-booth injection room. Daly described the 
news as significant and a signal the new Trudeau government is open 
to more drug injection facilities in Vancouver and across the country.

But, she said, for more applicants to be successful in getting an 
exemption for an injection site, the Trudeau government must repeal a 
leftover piece of legislation from the Harper era.The Respect for 
Communities Act, or Bill C-2, is still in effect. Daly, other health 
officials and harm reduction advocates have said the list of criteria 
outlined in the bill is onerous and makes it very difficult, if not 
impossible, for an applicant to be granted an exemption for an 
injection service.

Criteria includes providing information outlining the views of 
police, municipal leaders, public health officials and provincial 
health ministers. An applicant is also required to provide documents 
that show the site's expected impact on crime rates, treatment 
options for drug users, the public health reasons for needing such a 
site and evidence there are resources to keep the facility operating.

"Even though Health Canada is much more open to these things, it 
still is a lot of work to put together any application - no matter 
how big or small, the requirements are extensive," said Daly, who 
plans to write a letter to federal Health Minister Jane Philpott 
requesting the bill be repealed. "It will still be an impediment 
- -even with a willing government - to people who want to put together 
that application."

Philpott was in Vancouver Wednesday and Thursday to meet with 
provincial and territorial health ministers. The minister visited 
Insite Wednesday and described it as "a very moving experience." 
Philpott said she thanked the staff for their work in saving lives, 
preventing the spread of infectious diseases and linking drug users 
to health care services.

"I wanted to commend all of those who had worked so hard to make it 
possible and to encourage them and to let them know that our 
government will continue to work to reduce harm to Canadians," the 
minister said during a news conference Thursday at the Fairmont Hotel 
Vancouver.

In taking questions from reporters, Philpott told the Courier the 
Trudeau government has yet to evaluate Bill C-2 and whether it will 
be repealed.

"I certainly look forward to hearing from others and continuing to 
find ways to reduce harm for Canadians and make sure that we keep 
them healthy," said Philpott, a longtime family doctor and founder of 
a charity that raised more than $4 million to help people affected by 
HIV/AIDS in Africa.

B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake told the Courier after the news 
conference that he supports Daly's call to have Bill C-2 repealed. 
Provincial health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, has also called for the 
bill to be repealed.

"I completely agree with repealing that legislation, which really was 
designed to prevent the establishment of safe injection sites," Lake said.

Insite and the Dr. Peter Centre's injection room opened when a 
previous Liberal government was in power in Ottawa. When the Harper 
government got elected, it engaged in several legal battles in 
attempts to close Insite's doors. Staff at the facility say no client 
has ever died of a drug overdose in the injection room.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom