Vancouver residents seem to be tiring of the war-on-drugs approach to the drug problem in the city's Downtown East Side neighbourhood. A poll conducted after the city's drug strategy discussion paper was recently released revealed 71% support for what is probably the most contentious recommendation: the creation of safe injection sites.
That endorsement is shared by the provincial medical health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall. “The evidence from other countries is very, very convincing and more robust than the evidence we had when we starting putting in needle exchanges.”
Safe sites, which are staffed by health professionals, provide a secure environment for users to inject drugs. Users' attendance allows staff to refer addicts to treatment and social service programs.
While Vancouver debates the issue, Sydney opened Australia's first safe injection site in March. There, supervised injection sites have been endorsed by national organizations ranging from the Australian Medical Association to the Australian Bar Association and Royal Australian College of Physicians.
Tony Trimingham, who heads a government-funded agency that advocates changes to Australia's drug laws (www.fds.org.au), says these organizations have simply decided that drug addiction needs to be treated as a health issue. Trimingham's son died from a heroin overdose 4 years ago; about 300 people die annually from drug overdoses in Sydney, which has a population of 3.7 million people.
The government-funded, $1.8 million pilot site will be operated by the United Church for 18 months. It will be staffed by a medical director, nurses and social workers from 4 p.m. to midnight, 7 days a week. The site, in a former pinball arcade in a heavily travelled neighbourhood, will have 8 injection rooms; about 200 people are expected to use it daily. Police have agreed to follow a harm-minimization protocol that allows users to enter the site without fear of harassment.
Trimingham says the facility will remove drug users from public view, provide access to health care and ultimately save lives. The centre will have blacked-out windows and Trimingham predicts it will operate in a low key manner; he adds that the local Chamber of Commerce also favours the site.
Trimingham recently visited Vancouver and met with city and provincial politicians, business representatives and local activists. What would he suggest to Vancouverites who are wary of safe injection sites? “We already have unsafe sites,” he says. “[With safe sites] there will be less apparent drug use. It will have a dramatic impact.” — Heather Kent, Vancouver
Figure. An injection drug user in downtown Vancouver alley Photo by: Canapress