Pubdate: Mon, 04 Apr 2016
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.ottawasun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329
Author: Andrew Duffy
Page: 6

FORMER TOP MOUNTIE BACKS SAFE INJECTION SITES

Former RCMP Commissioner Norman Inkster has thrown his support behind
the drive to establish more safe injection sites in Canada, arguing
the supervised consumption of illegal drugs is better for addicts and
the neighbourhoods in which they live.

"For me, this is a way to reduce some harm by getting it off the
street," Inkster told Postmedia in an interview. "We're reducing some
harm with a problem that seems to be intractable."

Inkster, 77, spent seven years as leader of Canada's national police
force and two years as president of the international police agency
Interpol.

He retired as commissioner in June 1994 after a 37-year RCMP career,
and launched himself into business and consulting. Among other things,
he now serves on the board of directors of Mettrum Health Corp., a
medical marijuana company.

Inkster said evidence shows that safe injection sites can reduce the
number of addicts using and discarding needles in public.

"So if we can get people off the street when they're injecting drugs,
if we can stop them from sharing needles and spreading disease, if we
can prevent our children and grandchildren from stepping on used
needles in public parks and alleys, then that's good," Inkster argued.
"We're reducing the victimization of third parties."

The harm reduction approach, he said, can make streets safer while
keeping addicts alive long enough to deal with their addictions.

"The real bonus is that health professionals get access to users, and
through that access, maybe, just maybe, we can convince a few to take
the treatment and get off drugs."

Inkster's unexpected endorsement comes as health agencies in six
cities, including Ottawa and Toronto, seek government support to open
safe sites where users can inject drugs under a nurse's
supervision.

His comments stand in stark contrast to the opinions of other police
leaders, who have warned that such facilities will attract crime and
undermine enforcement efforts.

Ottawa police Chief Charles Bordeleau has dismissed a proposed safe
injection site as "undesirable," and his predecessor Vern White once
warned that such a facility would have "an extreme, negative impact"
on nearby residents, and pose a threat to public safety.

The Sandy Hill Community Health Centre wants to open a small-scale
safe injection site at its downtown facility by this time next year.

Inkster said his views have been shaped by Vancouver's experience with
the safe injection site, Insite, in operation since 2003.

"They anticipated all of the problems that others anticipated - that
is to say, more crime, etcetera - but that has not been borne out," he
said. "Local crime around these sites actually went down, although not
much, but it went down. And there were fewer people dying from overdoses."

Inkster said the harm reduction approach makes sense given that the
war on drugs hasn't been successful at curbing drug use.

Senior ranks of the RCMP stridently opposed Vancouver's safe injection
for years. Ten years ago, when researchers began to publish studies
that gave Insite positive reviews, the RCMP paid two handpicked
academics who produced critical reports attacking peer-reviewed
research that demonstrated that Insite curtailed needle sharing, led
more people into detox, reduced the number of discarded needles on
nearby streets, and lowered fatal overdose rates - all with no
increase in drug-related crime or trafficking.

In 2008, the scheme was exposed by a Vancouver human rights group, the
Pivot Legal Society.
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