Drug-user support groups set up temporary, illegal SIS to aid with OD crisis A small tent pitched in Surrey on Wednesday symbolized the desperate measures being taken to end the ongoing overdose crisis killing drug users across B.C. In an act of rebellion, drug-user support groups established an illegal, temporary supervised-injection site (SIS) in the city ahead of income-assistance payments Wednesday. Two weeks ago, Fraser Health responded to 36 non-fatal overdoses in Surrey within 48 hours. Research has shown overdose deaths in B.C. increase by 40 per cent during income-assistance weeks. [continues 800 words]
Fraser Health strategy for overdoses includes supervised facilities Fraser Health is working to identify priority sites for supervised drug consumption as part of a broader strategy to contain a surge in illicit drug overdoses. At least one of those sites should be in Abbotsford, according to local advocates. Surrey is certain to be one of the proposed locations, but health authority officials aren't yet saying if they will also propose sites in other drug-troubled downtowns such as Langley City, Maple Ridge and Abbotsford. [continues 787 words]
The City of Vancouver has long led the way on harm reduction. For more than a decade now, its two supervised-injection sites have made it the only jurisdiction in North America with facilities where addicts can inject drugs under the watchful care of nurses. But the suburbs that surround Vancouver have taken more cautious and conservative approaches to drugs, declining to host safe-consumption sites of their own. That's finally beginning to change. Fraser Health, the authority responsible for care in communities from Burnaby to Hope in the Fraser Valley, has revealed that it plans to open multiple sites where users can inject heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and other drugs. [continues 445 words]
Re "Council OKs injection sites" (Shawn Jeffords, July 15): If Councillor Gord Perks really believes his statement when referring to drug addicts that "you are the best of us", then he obviously has more problems than the addicts themselves. When did drug addicts become "the best of us"? They certainly aren't the worst - that would be reserved for murderers and rapists - but to refer to them as "the best" is greatly insulting to just about everyone. The drug addicts did not agitate for a treatment centre or new treatment facilities of any kind. They agitated for an injection site where they could go and inject illegal drugs and not have to deal with people stepping over them in an alley. The only reason that Insite can brag about saving addicts from dying of overdoses is that there are medical personnel at the injection sites to revive them should they overdose anyway. The councillors have been fooled into thinking this is an acceptable lifestyle that should be enabled. We will soon see how wrong they are. Valerie Boyd Woodbridge (Perks may have gone over the top but addiction is a disease, not a sign of moral failure) [end]
Health officials in British Columbia want to provide pharmaceutical-grade opioids to some addicts at supervised-consumption sites to tackle the province's soaring number of overdose deaths. While they caution that there are no concrete plans yet, such a measure would make British Columbia the first province in Canada to provide prescription narcotics to addicts outside a clinical trial, while significantly expanding the role of facilities such as Vancouver's Insite - the country's first public supervised injection site, which has never offered drugs to users who inject there. [continues 698 words]
Maple Ridge will work with Fraser Health Fraser Health will identify priority sites for supervised drug consumption as part of a broader strategy to contain a surge in illicit drug overdoses, and Maple Ridge could be one. Fraser Health has to talk with the City of Maple Ridge first. "This is not something we've really ever talked about as a community," said Mayor Nicole Read. "It sounds like this is a decision that's been made by Fraser Health in response to an emerging situation that's a real crisis. Obviously, we're going to be working with Fraser Health however we can to deal with the situation in our own community. But what that looks like, I'm not sure yet." [continues 949 words]
A steep and steady climb in the number of drug overdoses has put increased pressure on health authorities in British Columbia to open additional spaces for users to consume illicit substances under medical supervision. Fatal drug overdoses have increased almost every year since 2009, spiking with the emergence of illicit fentanyl in 2012. Advocates have long called for more supervised-consumption sites - particularly in the Fraser Valley and on Vancouver Island. And now, after being accused of dragging their heels, Fraser Health and Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) appear poised to submit applications to Health Canada to open multiple consumption sites, which would include injection facilities similar to Vancouver's Insite, but could also allow people to inhale drugs such as crack-cocaine. Vancouver is expected to pursue additional sites as well. Just four months ago, the Fraser Health Authority said it had no plans to open such a site. That same month, the Vancouver Island Health Authority said it was working with stakeholders to look at what an appropriate supervised-injection model would look like. [continues 589 words]
Fraser Health will quickly identify priority sites for supervised drug consumption as part of a broader strategy to contain a surge in illicit drug overdoses. Surrey is certain to be one of the proposed locations, but health authority officials aren't yet saying if they will also propose sites in other drug-troubled downtowns such as Langley City, Maple Ridge and Abbotsford. "We're at early stages of identifying priority communities and having initial conversations, dialogue and engagement with municipalities," said Dr. Victoria Lee, Fraser's chief medical health officer. [continues 742 words]
At Least 43 Treated After Taking Crack Laced With Fentanyl on the Weekend At least 43 overdoses in Surrey's Whalley area over the weekend are being attributed to crack cocaine being laced with the deadly opioid fentanyl. And as police and health care workers scramble to warn people of the unprecedented risks they face in using crack cocaine, those on the front lines think it is time to open up a safe inhalation site. At the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, spokesman Hugh Lampkin said they used to have a "consumption room" for both intravenous and crack cocaine users. [continues 289 words]
Svante Myrick, the young mayor of Ithaca, N.Y., made international headlines earlier this year when he backed a drug strategy that included the opening of a supervised-injection site. While two such facilities have existed in Vancouver for more than 13 years - and Toronto recently approved three - supervised consumption remains a controversial idea for many in North America. If approved, Ithaca's could be the first of its kind in the United States. The Globe and Mail spoke with Mr. Myrick, who recently visited Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, where he toured the Insite supervised-injection site; the Providence Crosstown Clinic, where drug users who were part of a clinical trial receive prescription heroin; and other social-service providers. [continues 714 words]
Victoria has taken another step closer to establishing supervised injection sites in the city. The city has been invited by the federal minister of health to apply for an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for a supervised drug consumption site. "I continually look for ways to keep Canadians healthy and reduce risks and harms to them," Health Minister Jane Philpott says in a letter to Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps. "For this reason the government's approach to supervised consumption sites will be guided by evidence, which in this case is clear - when properly established and managed, supervised consumption sites can save lives and improve health without increasing drug use and crime in the surrounding area." [continues 417 words]
Drug users report highest-ever rate of stimulant's use in study's history, which suggests need for change to harm-reduction resources Crystal methamphetamine use has climbed across British Columbia and is now on par with heroin use, according to a new provincewide survey of drug users. The finding suggests a need to reassess the availability of harm-reduction resources and supplies across the province, according to an epidemiologist behind the study. The survey, prepared by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, was distributed across 34 sites offering harm-reduction supplies and completed by 812 drug users. It builds on annual surveys dating to 2012 and paints a picture of substance-use trends among harm-reduction clients across B.C. Before these surveys, most knowledge of local drug trends was based on data from two major cities: Vancouver and Victoria. [continues 570 words]
Svante Myrick aims to bring Vancouver's pioneering programs back to his small city in upstate New York Svante Myrick has led a lifelong battle against the devastation caused by illicit drugs. He spent much of his childhood homeless while his father, a crack cocaine user, walked in and out of his world through "a sort of revolving door of jail and rehab," he said. Now Myrick, 29, the youngest and the first black mayor of Ithaca, N.Y., is fighting ideology and policy to make his city the first in the U.S. to be home to a legal supervised-injection facility (SIF) for heroin users. [continues 720 words]
Recruits Know First-Hand About Life for Many in the Downtown Eastside Those who attempt to provide care in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside without first understanding the complex issues faced by the area's population might as well be speaking an entirely different language. That's according to Daniel Benson, one of 12 newly hired peer advisers who are helping Vancouver Coastal Health roll out its Second Generation Strategy (SGS) in the DTES. "I've seen the pendulum swing both ways as far as the laws and people's attitudes go and now it's going in a positive direction with all the harm reduction, so that's refreshing to see," said Benson. "We hope to - and I hope to - influence their decisions, to make service deliveries down here more efficient, more compassionate and do a better job all around. [continues 495 words]
Vancouver experts weigh in While the Board of Health will deal Monday with a call to open three safe injection sites, Vancouver is in the midst of grappling with the introduction of five such projects to combat the city's fentanyl overdose crisis. The Vancouver Coastal Health department and the Vancouver Police Union weigh in on the pros and cons. Vancouver Police Union President Did crime go up when Insite, Vancouver's first supervised injection site, opened in 2003? [continues 424 words]
As the Heroin Epidemic Grows Worse, People Are Finally Talking About It "HERE THEY COME!" The call goes up before the bicycles roll to a complete stop on a recent Friday, sending a ripple of energy up and down the Central Eastside block. Soon, grateful drug users are coming from every direction to speak with four volunteers bearing stuffed backpacks and two bountiful bike trailers. "Needles?" asks one woman. "Who brought needles?" She's handed a pack of 50 new syringes, and offered her choice of an array of injection materials-three sizes of cotton wads, two kinds of rubber tourniquets (in case anyone's allergic to latex), tiny cups for cooking heroin, kits for treating wounds caused by injections, and more. [continues 1444 words]
Mayor says rising toll of overdose deaths in Toronto 'cannot be acceptable to anyone in a caring city such as ours' Toronto Mayor John Tory and police Chief Mark Saunders are not opposing a proposal that would see three existing harm-reduction clinics in the city set up supervised drug-injection sites, where addicts can shoot up with a nurse looking on. For months, Mr. Tory and Chief Saunders were non-committal about the plans, which were announced in March by medical officer of health David McKeown as a response to an alarming increase in overdose deaths in Toronto. [continues 636 words]
Coun. Shad Qadri listened to the evidence from professionals and colleagues. He still could not support the safe injection site - partly because a cabbie would not take him closer than a couple of blocks from the Insite injection site in Vancouver. I wonder how representative that cabbie was. The evidence is in and has been for some years: safe injection sites save lives and reduce crime. The mayor, the police chief and the councillor need to accept the evidence whether they like it or not. They can make Ottawa a safer place for us all, addicts and non-addicts alike. Harvey Davey, Ottawa [end]
Board of Health Nearly Unanimous in Its Support for Supervised Facilities Ottawa's board of health voted 10-1 Monday night to encourage supervised-injection sites to open in the city. "Listen to, more than anything, the people who live this," Capital Coun. David Chernushenko told skeptics. He'd come into the health-board meeting not knowing how much he didn't know about addiction, and treatment, and what it's like to be a drug addict, he said. The board heard from several, all begging the board to say it supports the notion of opening supervised facilities where addicts can inject drugs in the presence of nurses who can rescue them from overdoses. [continues 809 words]
Committee Tries to Understand Supervised Clinic Concept As Crosstown Clinic Physician Testifies to Its Efficacy Members of a U.S. Senate committee looking to confront drug abuse struggled with the concept of prescription heroin and raised concerns about supervised-injection sites increasing crime as they heard testimony on Wednesday from a B.C. doctor who helped lead one of the most radical interventions in North America. Scott MacDonald, physician lead at Providence Health Care's Crosstown Clinic in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs at a hearing in Washington titled "America's Insatiable Demand for Drugs: Examining Alternative Approaches." He was one of four experts invited to speak, and the only one from outside the United States. [continues 568 words]
Health Unit Cites Looming Overdose Crisis The capital is on the brink of an injection-drug crisis, the city's top public-health doctor believes, and now is the time to open a safe drug-injection site to try to head it off. "In Ottawa, we are on the cusp of this larger trend, and we have dodged it because we have been lucky so far," says Dr. Isra Levy, the city's medical officer of health. Monday night, after years of equivocating, his health unit released a report saying the city should have at least one supervised facility aimed at chronic users of injection drugs, where they can shoot up with clean needles and have nurses on hand to help if they overdose. [continues 1220 words]
Most Overdose Fatalities Tied to Fentanyl New statistics show 308 B.C. residents died of illicit drug overdoses in the first four months of 2016, up 75 per cent from the 176 deaths in the same January to May period of 2015. And the proportion of deaths tied to the synthetic drug fentanyl has climbed further to 56 per cent of the 2016 deaths so far, according to the B.C. Coroners Service. By comparison, 31 per cent of illicit drug deaths in 2015 were linked to fentanyl, used either on its own or knowingly or unknowingly in combination with other drugs. [continues 487 words]
Opinion split down party lines More than half of Ottawans polled support a supervised injection site downtown for intravenous drug users with the young, affluent and well educated most likely to be behind the plan. The numbers are in line with results from Canada's biggest city, where a drive is also underway to establish supervised injection sites aimed at preventing overdoses and disease. "There is clearly a sentiment in urban centres in favour of harm reduction over sanctions and enforcement," Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said. "Vancouver already has InSite, and Toronto and Ottawa are both contemplating similar centres. "These results bode well for a successful outcome." [continues 365 words]
More than half of Ottawans polled support a safe injection site for intravenous drug users, with the young, affluent and well-educated most likely to be behind the plan. The numbers are in line with results from Toronto, where a drive is also underway to establish safe injection sites aimed at preventing overdoses and disease. "There is clearly a sentiment in urban centres in favour of harm reduction over sanctions and enforcement," Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said. "Vancouver already has Insite, and Toronto and Ottawa are both contemplating similar centres. "These results bode well for a successful outcome." [continues 366 words]
With an average 78 Americans dying each day from overdoses of prescription opioid painkillers and heroin, it's clear that the U.S. is losing the war on drugs. The epidemic has spread to suburbia and rural areas. The death toll from heroin has more than tripled since 2010. And the nation is desperate for answers. Congress is working on bipartisan measures that would give states, localities and non-profit groups money for an array of education, treatment and law enforcement programs. Final passage can't come a moment too soon. But it's all standard fare. [continues 421 words]
Advocates Say Supervised Facilities Can Save Lives. Across the United States, heroin and other drug users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider government-sanctioned sites where heroin users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 411 words]
Health Canada has moved to allow doctors to apply for special access to prescribe pharmaceutical-grade heroin to severe addicts, which would overturn a ban imposed by the previous Conservative government. The federal department said in a statement issued on Friday that a "significant body of evidence" supports the medical use of diacetylmorphine, also known as pharmaceutical-grade heroin. "Diacetylmorphine is permitted in a number of other jurisdictions, such as Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Switzerland, to support a small percentage of patients who have not responded to other treatment options, such as methadone and buprenorphine," the statement said. [continues 274 words]
ACROSS the US, heroin users have died in alleys behind supermarkets, on city pavements and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47 000 American overdose deaths in 2014 60% from heroin and related painkillers such as fentanyl has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider what was once unthinkable: government-sanctioned sites where users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 1060 words]
Across the United States, heroin users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 - 60 percent from heroin and related painkillers like fentanyl - has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider what was once unthinkable: government-sanctioned sites where users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 1493 words]
Across the United States, heroin users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 - 60 percent from heroin and related painkillers like fentanyl - has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider what was once unthinkable: government-sanctioned sites where users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 1415 words]
Across the United States, heroin users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 - 60 percent from heroin and related painkillers like fentanyl - has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider what was once unthinkable: government-sanctioned sites where users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 1392 words]
Citing a Surge in Overdose Deaths, Many Begin to Discuss Using Supervised "Shoot-Up Rooms" Across the United States, heroin users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 - 60 percent from heroin and related painkillers like fentanyl - has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider what was once unthinkable: government-sanctioned sites where users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 1491 words]
Across the United States, heroin users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 - 60 percent from heroin and related painkillers like fentanyl - has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider what was once unthinkable: government-sanctioned sites where users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 1491 words]
The idea, spurred by a rise in drug overdose deaths in the U.S., has worked elsewhere Across the United States, heroin and other drug users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider government-sanctioned sites where heroin users could shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who could administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 618 words]
Users Could Get Quick Overdose Treatments Across the United States, heroin and other drug users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider government-sanctioned sites where heroin users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 616 words]
The Supervised Injection Rooms Are Considered for "Out of Control" Problem. Across the United States, heroin users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 - 60 percent from heroin and related painkillers like fentanyl - has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider what was once unthinkable: government-sanctioned sites where users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 834 words]
Across the United States, heroin and other drug users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider government-sanctioned sites where heroin users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 710 words]
Across the United States, heroin and other drug users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider government-sanctioned sites where heroin users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 688 words]
Across the United States, heroin users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 - 60 percent from heroin and related painkillers like fentanyl - has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider what was once unthinkable: government-sanctioned sites where users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 646 words]
Across the United States, heroin and other drug users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider government-sanctioned sites where heroin users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 325 words]
Once Unthinkable in US, Drug Shoot-Up Rooms Get Serious Look Across the United States, heroin and other drug users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider government-sanctioned sites where heroin users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 498 words]
Across the United States, heroin and other drug users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider governmentsanctioned sites where heroin users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. "Things are getting out of control. We have to find things we can do for people who are addicted now," said New York state Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, who is working on legislation to allow supervised injection sites that would also include space for treatment services. "The idea shouldn't be dismissed out of hand." [continues 565 words]
NEW YORK (AP) - Across the United States, heroin and other drug users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider government-sanctioned sites where heroin users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 683 words]
Across the United States, heroin and other drug users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider government-sanctioned sites where heroin users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 442 words]
Across the United States, heroin users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 - 60 percent from heroin and related painkillers like fentanyl - has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider what was once unthinkable: government-sanctioned sites where users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 1465 words]
Volunteers from the Campaign for Safer Consumption Sites in Ottawa will be canvassing the Sandy Hill neighbourhood on Saturday to raise awareness about safe injection sites. Starting in the afternoon, volunteers will be going around with information to keep residents informed and to banish any misconceptions they may have about safe injection sites. The canvassing coincides with International Harm Reduction Day, which aims to raise awareness and promote services to help drug users. "We're trying to be as open and as honest as possible," said Catherine Hacksel, an organizer with CSCS Ottawa. [continues 160 words]
Marijuana Users Look Forward To Liberals Following Through With Legalization Plan The most sacred day in cannabis culture passed with little fanfare in Penticton, although marijuana users everywhere were treated to some good news from the federal government to puff on. Expressed numerically, April 20 - or 420 - has become an international day of smoke-ins at which people gather to celebrate marijuana - just not in Penticton. "There's nothing established here," said Jukka Laurio, operator of the city's first marijuana dispensary. "There is everywhere else though. It's almost become a holiday, people walking around wishing other people a happy 420." [continues 284 words]
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Dave Napio started doing heroin over four decades ago, at 11 years old. Like many addicts these days, he heads to Vancouver's gritty Downtown Eastside neighborhood when he needs a fix. But instead of seeking out a dealer in a dark alley, Mr. Napio, 55, gets his three daily doses from a nurse at the Crosstown Clinic, the only medical facility in North America permitted to prescribe the narcotic at the center of an epidemic raging across the continent. [continues 1298 words]
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Dave Napio started doing heroin over four decades ago, at 11 years old. Like many addicts these days, he heads to Vancouver's gritty Downtown Eastside neighborhood when he needs a fix. But instead of seeking out a dealer in a dark alley, Napio, 55, gets his three daily doses from a nurse at Crosstown Clinic, the only medical facility in North America permitted to prescribe the narcotic at the center of an epidemic raging across the continent. [continues 927 words]
City's Top Doctor Backs Supervised Injections Sites Ottawa's medical officer of health says a supervised injection service is the consummate example of health care that puts the needs of patients first. Dr. Isra Levy told the Ottawa Board of Health on Monday that the harm reduction service fits squarely into the provincial government's recently unveiled plan to build a patient-centred health care system in Ontario. "I suggest that if ever there was a ready example of the need to put patients first, health first, this is the issue and this is the time," said Levy, whose comments represent his most spirited defence to date of a supervised injection site in Ottawa. [continues 297 words]
