Newsbrief:
Another
Safe
Injection
Site
in
British
Columbia?
4/2/04
The International Narcotics Control Board ripped into Canada last month for going ahead with a safe injection site in Vancouver (https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/285/vancouverinjectionsite.shtml), but that hasn't stopped provincial and local elected officials from suggesting opening one in Victoria, British Columbia's capital and second-largest city. Canada Press reported Sunday that BC provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall and Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe support a safe injection site in the city. Mayor Lowe Mayor first publicly broached the idea at a public forum on illicit drug use last week, Canada Press reported. "We've been hearing about people shooting up in the alleys, people shooting up in people's front yards, around people's businesses and schools," Lowe said. "In order to deal with some of those problems, we do need a safe injection site." That prompted Canada Press to ask Dr. Kendall, the province's point man on health issues, what he thought of the idea. Noting that diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C are spread through needle-sharing and that drug users are shooting up in public areas, Kendall supported the idea. "Speaking as a provincial health officer, I think it would be appropriate," he told the news agency. The city's needle exchange program has more than 2,000 clients, demonstrating the existence of a large drug-injecting community in the Vancouver Island city, he noted. The notion has also picked up support in the local press, with the Victoria Times-Colonist editorializing Tuesday in favor of giving a safe injection site serious consideration. The newspaper listed the arguments against safe injecting sites -- that they encourage drug use, that they are illegal under international law -- but was unconvinced, citing positive results from the Vancouver site. "The Vancouver experience shows how Victoria, and its addicts, could benefit from a safe injection site -- by taking IV drug use off the streets, by reducing the risk of fatal overdoses and the spread of disease, if only to a small degree," the paper editorialized. The newspaper encouraged Mayor Lowe to move to make a site a reality, while acknowledging it could be an arduous bureaucratic process. "It may be a long time coming, but if Lowe is convinced a safe injection site is what Victoria needs, he should begin the debate in city council now," said the Times-Colonist.
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