HTTP/1.0 200 OK Content-Type: text/html Vancouver's Safe Injection Site Criticized by UN Group 
Pubdate: Wed, 03 Mar 2004
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2004 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact:  http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Canadian Press
Cited: Report of the International Narcotics Control Board 
http://www.incb.org/e/ar/2003/menu.htm
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms)

VANCOUVER'S SAFE INJECTION SITE CRITICIZED BY UN GROUP

GENEVA -- A UN organization has expressed concerns to Canada over 
Vancouver's safe injection site for addicts, saying the approach violates 
international agreements on ways to control drug abuse.

In a report released today, the International Narcotics Control Board says 
the establishment of the drug-injection site in Vancouver last year -- the 
first in North America -- "is not in line with the international 
drug-control treaties to which Canada is a party."

The board is part of the UN International Drug Control Program based in 
Vienna. It notes that governments have agreed to use prevention and 
treatment to deal with drug abuse.

The report says the board has on numerous occasions spoken out against the 
operation of drug injection rooms "where persons can inject drugs acquired 
with impunity on the illicit market."

Herbert Schaepe, secretary of the board, says board members have expressed 
concerns to the Canadian government, as well as several European 
governments that have approved drug injection sites or are thinking of 
establishing them. "When drug abusers can acquire illicit drugs and can 
take these illicit drugs into premises which are managed by the state or 
the town, then there is definitely complicity and we cannot accept that 
under the international drug control convention," he says.

Health Canada announced last June it would provide $1.5 million over four 
years for the pilot project in Vancouver to determine whether a supervised 
injection site can reduce harm to addicts and improve their health prospects.

Schaepe dismisses arguments put forth by government authorities, notably 
Switzerland, that rooms where heroin addicts can safely inject themselves 
under medical supervision have reduced crime, improved the lives of addicts 
and persuaded many to check into rehabilitation centres. 
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