|
Court fight launched to save safe-injection site
Canadian Press
VANCOUVER -- Two drug addicts and a group that runs Canada's only safe-injection site have launched court action in an effort to preempt any federal effort to close the place.
Shelly Tomic and Dean Wilson, along with the Portland Hotel Society, which helps operate the facility, filed a statement of claim in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday.
They argue Insite provides a health service under provincial jurisdiction so the federal government shouldn't play any role in its future. And they say its closure would violate addicts' Charter rights to "security of the person.''
Insite opened four years ago as a pilot project in the Downtown Eastside for IV drug users to inject their own heroin and cocaine with clean needles under the supervision of a nurse.
Addicts who get their fix at the site _ instead of in back alleys and the area's single-room hotels _ can also access referrals to detox and rehabilitation services.
But the future of Insite is currently in Ottawa's hands because in order for the facility to operate, it needs the federal government to grant it an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
The exemption is set to expire on Dec. 31 and federal Health Minister Tony Clement has been noncommital about whether it will be renewed.
Mark Townsend, director of the Portland Hotel Society, said the ongoing uncertainty is no way to operate a health service for vulnerable people.
"It's not even funded by the federal government, it's 100-per-cent funded by the province, yet they get to give us an extension here and there to create this endless kind of worry,'' Townsend said.
"We'd rather not be in court on this issue but what we really need is just to get the clarification that, really, this is about health care,'' he said.
The site, known as Insite, is the only facility of its kind in North America.
Tomic, a 39-year-old addict with a long history of addiction issues, said she got involved in the legal action because she's seen it's positive effects first-hand
"A lot of people will end up dying if they shut it down because with the fear of the police picking them up, they start (injecting) too much just to get it in them before they're caught,'' said Tomic, who was one of the first to use the facility.
Tomic said she's been taking methadone for about 10 months as part of her treatment to withdraw from heroin. And despite staying clean so far, she said she still visits Insite to talk to the staff on days when she feels like relapsing.
Dean Wilson, the other addict named in the statement of claim, credited Insite for keeping him and his two sons alive.
"This is gold-standard medicine,'' Wilson said. "Addiction is a health issue.
"This is a life-saving measure down here. It may not be a life-saving measure in (Toronto's) Rosedale or Mount Royal in Montreal but in the Downtown Eastside, it is a life-saving measure.''
Dr. Evan Wood, an epidemiologist at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, said 24 studies have pointed to Insite's benefits.
Since 2003, research published in top journals has stated the site reduces public injections, overdose fatalities and the transmission of blood-borne infections like HIV and hepatitis C, Wood said, adding crime hasn't increased in the area despite initial fears by some in the community.
"From a scientific perspective, I believe this is a health issue,'' Wood said, adding he agrees with the court action.
"(Prime Minister) Stephen Harper has failed to show any leadership on this issue and the fact that it's going to the courts now is not surprising,'' he said.
"If the facility closes and somebody contracts HIV or dies of an overdose and has a compelling argument that this wouldn't have happened to them had the federal government not removed this service, then I think that raises legal issues as well.''
Monique Pongracic-Speier, one of three lawyers working on the case for free, said her clients are merely asserting their constitutional rights regarding the use of a facility that's helped them stay alive.
"After all, Insite is about saving lives. That's the bottom line.''
