Canada - conservatives keeping open mind on safe injection sites for heroin addicts

[klaatu]

www.canada.com
April 27, 2006

OTTAWA (CP) - The federal government has no immediate plans to close down Vancouver's safe injection site for heroin users, says a spokesman for Health Minister Tony Clement.

Eric Waddell said the Conservative government is keeping an open mind on the issue, and waiting for a study of the site's effectiveness due this fall.

The position comes as a surprise since Conservative Leader Stephen Harper was widely quoted during the election campaign as saying he would scupper safe injection sites if elected.

"We want to see some sound evidence from this study before we make a decision on whether to support keeping the sites open," said Waddell in an interview Thursday.

"We're not going to step forward right now and clamp down in any way on the supervised injection sites. We're not going to take a reactionary stance on this thing."

Earlier this week Harper met with Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan, who pressed him to maintain the program, which many addiction experts want to see replicated in other parts of the country.

The main argument behind supervised injection sites is that they reduce the number of overdoses and curb the rate of HIV and hepatitis C infections. But the concept does not fit easily with Conservative vows to get tough on crime.

Former Conservative MP Randy White, who now heads an anti-drug group called the Drug Prevention Network of Canada, expressed disbelief that Harper has changed his mind on the issue.

White said the injection sites do not get people off drugs but draw resources from efforts to promote abstinence and rehabilitation.

The federal government does not fund the Vancouver site, but has provided $1.5 million to assess its effectiveness. It is that assessment the Conservatives are awaiting.

Ottawa does have the ability to close down the Vancouver site because it relies on an exemption under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act.

"We try to keep an open mind on every issue," said Waddell. "We'll assess any issue that comes up based on its merits and based on evidence.

As things stand right now we're not going to make any formal decision on the future of these sites until the fall."

The Conservatives are known to be worried about their electoral prospects in British Columbia, where they have lost seats in each of the last two elections, mainly to the New Democrats.

---------------------------

Klaatu