New injection sites stalled

by Matthew Burrows on September 21st, 2006 at 7:00 AM

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A completed proposal and architectural plans for a second safe-injection site are currently on the back burner, according to a Downtown Eastside housing advocate.

Mark Townsend, the executive director of the Portland Hotel Society””whose staff operate the Insite safe-injection facility in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health””told the Georgia Straight he can't think about opening a second safe-injection site in the area until the fate of Insite is clearer.

Federal Conservative Health Minister Tony Clement did not approve a renewal of a three-year Health Canada exemption for supervised injection of drugs at Insite, North America's first-ever supervised safe-injection site. The minister put off any decision until December 31, 2007, pending a study on how facilities like Insite “affect crime, prevention, and treatment” , according to a September 1 news release.

“I think the first thing is, we've got an extension until New Year's Eve [2007], and I see that extension as a very temporary thing,” Townsend told the Straight. “What we have to do is more work with the federal government to get them to support it. I think they're out there looking for something else, like a three- pillared or a two-pillared approach, you know? The first priority was to work on keeping this one. It's good they've extended it, but I don't think it's open as part of another comprehensive plan, if you know what I mean.”

Portland Hotel Society was part of a coalition””which includes former Vancouver mayors Philip Owen, Larry Campbell, and Mike Harcourt””that has been pressuring the federal government to renew Insite's lease. Standing in front of Insite speaking to the Straight, Townsend said the deferral by Clement is “not a victory” .

Townsend also said that even though he has plans for another safe-injection site, he does not plan to open a second one illegally to make a political statement because “people here are on-side” .

“Insite requires the cooperation of all levels of government and [stakeholder] groups,” Townsend said. “But in terms of getting another site, from our perspective, we do need another site, and we've done some work in that regard by getting an architect to draw a sketch and we've written up what is required to get the extension. We have a bound proposal, but it's not submitted, as they [the federal government] have clearly stated they will not accept more submissions.”

In the September 1 statement, Clement said he will be working with his counterparts in Justice and Public Safety, as well as the Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse, toward a national drug strategy. He also said Health Canada will not entertain any applications for the establishment of new sites until the drug strategy and Insite review are complete.

For Ann Livingston, executive program director with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, this does not address the “urgent” need on the streets now.

“VANDU is mounting a campaign,” Livingston told the Straight. “We need four or five safe-injection sites. If the federal government won't take applications, just open them. If they [federal government] won't do the right thing, then VANDU has to take the lead.”

Livingston said she is planning “sit-ins, letter-writing, anything” to draw attention to what she sees as an urgent plight for drug users who need to inject and smoke drugs in a safe setting. She claims Insite is equipped to handle only a small percentage of that demand. “It's five percent of injected-drug use.”

Townsend said he agrees, adding: “In the Downtown Eastside, you'd probably need three [sites].

“I'd like to focus on detox beds, heroin maintenance, and safe- injection sites, but we're only human,” he said. “We had to have a fight at the federal level, which is a tough fight. With [site] number two, we wanted to include the ability to smoke drugs, just to get some of that off the street. There has been an impact in reducing injections on the street, but there's a lot of smoking of crack. I'm not sure if we can get that off the street as easily as injection, but that is our aim. If we were to do another one, we'd glass the booths in so someone could smoke there as well.”