Pubdate: Fri, 23 Sep 2016
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2016 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Andrea Woo
Page: S1

TWO NEW SUPERVISED INJECTION SITES FACE LEGAL WALL

As Vancouver moves to open two new supervised injection sites amid an
unprecedented level of overdose deaths, B.C.'s top health officials
are once again calling for the repeal of legislation they say imposes
unnecessary barriers to the lifesaving harm-reduction measure.

Vancouver Coastal Health this week announced the locations for two of
five proposed injection sites, both to be located in the city's
Downtown Eastside. Speaking with media about the sites and the
troubling surge of fatal overdoses in British Columbia, the province's
top health officials once again spoke of the Respect for Communities
Act, which requires prospective operators to satisfy more than two
dozen time-consuming and costly requirements to get the exemption from
federal drug laws needed to operate.

The act, introduced by the previous Conservative government, is widely
seen by critics as a deliberate effort to curb all supervised
consumption sites. The Harper government had introduced it after
fighting Insite, Vancouver's supervised injection site, all the way to
Supreme Court, which sided with the Downtown Eastside facility.

"The federal legislation … is, what we consider, a significant barrier
to the establishment of safe consumption sites," Health Minister Terry
Lake said this week.

"We have advocated with the federal government to repeal that
bill."

The Globe and Mail has reported on the issue extensively. Federal
Health Minister Jane Philpott has said several cities have applied to
open supervised injection sites under the current legislation and
while there are no immediate plans to repeal or modify the law, her
department is open to changes in the future.

Dr. Philpott, who called her tour of Insite early this year "extremely
moving," reiterated her support of the sites on Thursday.

"I've made it very clear to my department that there should be no
unnecessary barriers for communities who want to open supervised
consumption sites," she told reporters in Ottawa.

"They are working with communities that are interested in this. We're
also looking at the legislation … and if it becomes clear to us that
we need to make some further amendments to that act, to ensure that
there are no barriers, then we will certainly do that."

Patricia Daly, chief medical health officer and vice-president of
public health for Vancouver Coastal Health, noted that the Liberal
government has not granted a single exemption for any new application
- - excluding the existing sites Insite and the Dr. Peter Centre - since
taking office.

"Although people have submitted applications, the process is much too
slow," Dr. Daly said Thursday.

"I would respectfully request that they take a look at that
legislation and if it is delaying the ability of those of us working
in the provinces to begin to offer these needed, life-saving health
services, that they would repeal that legislation."

The two new sites proposed for Vancouver would be at 528 Powell St.,
which will soon become a mental-health and addictions drop-in centre,
and 330 Heatley St., the yet-to-be-opened Heatley Integrated Health
Centre. The former is intended for the general public, while the
latter is slated for clients of the centre, but will accommodate other
members of the public if needed. Both sites are expected to start with
four injection booths each. Insite, in comparison, has 13 booths.

Stakeholder consultations are planned for the coming weeks; the health
authority expects to submit applications for the two sites within a
month. If approved, both sites would require significant renovations
before opening.

The health authority is also keen to offer supervised injection
service at three more sites: one at an acute-care facility, one in a
community health centre and one at a women's only facility. However,
these locations have not yet been determined.

Dr. Daly, Mr. Lake, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, Provincial
Health Officer Perry Kendall and others sent a joint letter to Dr.
Philpott on Aug. 30 officially requesting she repeal the Respect for
Communities Act after a Globe and Mail report that there were no
planned changes. In it, they called the act "a flawed, mean-spirited
and ineffective piece of legislation that only serves to marginalize
our most vulnerable residents and criminalize people suffering from
addiction."

 From Jan. 1 until Aug. 31, 488 people died of illicit drug overdoses
in British Columbia. The year-end death toll is projected to be
between 600 and 800 people - the largest number in nearly three
decades of record-keeping.
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