Pubdate: Fri, 25 Jun 2010
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2010 The Globe and Mail Company
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Website: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Authors: Kirk Makin and Wendy Stueck

Supreme Court To Decide B.C. Injection Clinic's Future

Toronto, Vancouver - From Friday's Globe and Mail

The future of Vancouver's supervised drug-injection site, Insite, will
be decided in the Supreme Court of Canada.

The court said Thursday that it will decide whether the federal
government has the authority to shut down the Downtown Eastside clinic
- the first such clinic in North America to allow addicts to inject
themselves with prohibited drugs under a nurse's supervision.

The case has turned into an important jurisdictional struggle between
the provincial and federal governments.

The $3-million Insite facility was opened in 2003 after it was
specifically exempted from federal drug possession and trafficking
laws.

In January, the B.C. Court of Appeal decided 2-1 that the province has
jurisdiction over the facility since it provides addicts with health
care, which is within provincial jurisdiction.

Its ruling upheld a 2008 trial decision by B.C. Supreme Court Justice
Ian Pitfield, who found that the facility reduces the risk of death
and disease for addicts. Judge Pitfield found that the application of
the federal drug law would violate the addicts' Charter rights to
life, liberty and security of the person.

However, federal lawyers maintain that, while addicts need help,
providing a safe injection site is the wrong way to go about it.

"Our national anti-drug strategy focuses on prevention and access to
treatment for those with drug dependencies," federal Justice Minister
Rob Nicholson said after the B.C. Court of Appeal ruling.

B.C. Health Minister Kevin Falcon expressed disappointment with the
federal government's opposition to a program that has had solid
support in the medical community and in medical journals.

Health Canada initially granted a three-year exemption under the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to establish it as a scientific
research project. The federal Conservative government objected to it
in recent years, but the province continued allowing the facility to
operate.

In 2008, the Portland Hotel Society and the Vancouver Area Network of
Drug Users launched a constitutional challenge of the federal
government's power to close the facility, arguing the site saves lives
and money.

The appeal will be heard next fall at the earliest.

As the battle over Insite moves to the Supreme Court, a related
skirmish is under way.

On Thursday, the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
filed a complaint with the Commission for Public Complaints Against
the RCMP, alleging the force tried to discredit Insite by paying for
studies that cast the facility in a negative light.

In a close to 200-page complaint, the centre states that it "believes
that the RCMP paid to obtain documents that specifically supported the
RCMP's and federal Conservative government's negative views on Insite,
supervised injection sites and harm reduction."

The complaint concerns two studies, released in 2007, that raised
questions about whether Insite was successful in areas such as
preventing overdose deaths and reducing transmission of disease.

The 2007 studies "contained no new data and were not published in
conventional peer-reviewed scientific journals", the complaint states.
"Instead, they were essays posted on the website of a U.S. law
enforcement lobby group known as the Drug Free America
Foundation."

The papers were cited by politicians who argued that Insite should be
closed.

For the past 18 months, according to the complaint, the centre has
been talking with senior RCMP officials about the papers and ensuing
fallout - even working on a joint media release that, among other
statements, acknowledged the 2007 reviews "did not meet conventional
academic standards."

But scheduled joint press conferences were twice cancelled, according
to the complaint.

A spokeswoman for the complaints commission said on Thursday it was
reviewing the complaint.

RCMP media representatives in Ottawa would not discuss specifics of
the complaint, but said "the RCMP has on repeated occasions met with
[Centre of Excellence director] Dr. Julio Montaner and continues to
dialogue with Dr. Montaner on issues of common interest."
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