In a major victory against the Conservative government, a B.C. Supreme Court ruling has allowed Insite to operate for another year.

B.C. Supreme Court Judge Ian Pitfield’s decision granted North American’s only supervised-injection site a constitutional exemption from Canada’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

Pitfield found two sections of that Act are “inconsistent” with section seven of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states that “everyone has a right to life, liberty, and security of the person and right not to be deprived thereof”.

Pitfield found that as it applies to Insite, section four of the CDSA–which concerns the possession of narcotics–is “arbitrary and not in accord with the principles of fundamental justice”.

PHS Community Services Society, prominent drug addict Dean Wilson, Shelly Tomic, and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users were plaintiffs in the actions against the federal health minister and attorney general; the B.C. Civil Liberties Association was an intervenor.

Vancouver Coastal Health spokesperson Viviana Zanocco told the Straight that Pitfield’s ruling underlines VCH’s argument that Insite’s “approach to harm reduction is clearly the right path to take.”

The Conservative government has refused to grant a permanent legal exemption to Insite, in spite of significant scientific evidence that indicates the supervised-injection site has had a positive influence on health outcomes in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Zanocco said that the court decision basically struck down parts of the CDSA and then gave the federal government time to bring those sections in line with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In the meantime, Zanocco continued, Insite can continue to operate, at least for another year.