TORONTO: A scientific review at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto on August 15 became the scene of an emotional outpouring of support for Insite, Vancouver's supervised-injection site.

Thomas Kerr, a research scientist in charge of evaluating Insite, presented findings from the three years that Insite has operated in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Presentations at the International AIDS Conference are generally quiet affairs, but this one was tense from the start, with Steven Fletcher, a Conservative MP and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, showing up, a surprise to many attendees.

On July 21, Fletcher told Metro Vancouver that the federal government would only make the decision on Insite's future after the site's current exemption from Canada's drug laws runs out on September 12. Without the exemption, drug users will not be able to legally inject drugs at the site and the facility will have to close.

A visibly grim Kerr told scientists and activists that Insite has been shown to reduce public drug use, and has successfully moved drug users into detox and treatment. He also said that of the 361 reported overdoses at Insite, not a single one has resulted in death. These findings have been published in the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine, among other publications. Coauthored by Evan Wood and a team of researchers from the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, the research also found that the negative effects that critics of the site feared””such as an increase in drug-related crime and an increase in drug use””failed to materialize.

At the close of the 10-minute presentation, the usually reserved conference delegates rose to their feet for a standing ovation. In the midst of this show of support, Steffanie A. Strathdee, one of the session's panellists and a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, grabbed a microphone and berated the Conservative gov­­­ernment's lack of action.

“If the Canadian government closes this site, they will have blood on their hands,” she announced from the stage, a few feet from where Fletcher sat in the front row.

Although the Harper government has stated that it has yet to decide on Insite, its supporters have been increasingly on edge as less than a month remains before the site will be forced to close. The Vancouver Sun reported that federal officials told activists the site's fate would be decided by Health Minister Tony Clement, along with Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day and Justice Minister Vic Toews. Harper's press secretary subsequently denied the claim.

An RCMP–commissioned study recently reported favourably on the facility, and other organizations support its continuation, including Health Canada, the City of Vancouver, the B.C. government, the Vancouver police department, and the Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association.

At a press conference following his presentation, Kerr accompanied Julio Montaner, the director of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, and Diane Tobin, head of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, in asking the government to extend the site's mandate.

Montaner, who lashed out at Otta­wa for putting off the decision, told reporters that “in my 25 years of scientific research, Insite is the single most effective program I have ever been a part of.”

When asked what she would do if the site were to close, Tobin said, “I'll start going to a lot more funerals.”

Dan Werb is a researcher at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.