CMA Journal article backs drug injection site

An article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal slams the federal government for its efforts to shut down Insite in downtown Vancouver, Canada's only safe injection site for drug addicts.

A co-author of the paper has told CBC News he believes the federal government should stand aside, allow the centre to operate, and abandon an appeal to the Supreme Court

"We've concluded after reviewing the evidence that Insite is doing what it's supposed to be doing, and furthermore that we're very concerned that the federal government has misled on the science," said Dr. Michael Rachlis, a professor of health policy at the University of Toronto.

Insite was established in 2003, when there was a Liberal government in Ottawa, but has been fighting for its survival since the Conservatives came to power in 2006.

'We're calling on the federal government to drop the current action they have in the Supreme Court.' Michael Rachlis,University of Toronto

The paper points out that soon after it was elected, the Conservative government removed harm reduction as one of the four pillars of its National Anti-Drug Strategy. The four-pillar strategy, endorsed by the World Health Organization also includes treatment, enforcement and prevention.

Two British Columbia court decisions have thwarted federal efforts to close Insite. In June, the Supreme Court of Canada gave the federal government leave to appeal the B.C. court rulings.

"We're calling on the federal government to drop the current action they have in the Supreme Court and to let local health officials, public and the local police get on and do their jobs in terms of dealing with the addiction problem," Rachlis said in an interview with CBC News.

A study released three years after Insite opened showed that more addicts in Vancouver were accessing detoxification and addiction treatment services.

Another study found that Insite did not lead to increased relapses among former drug users, nor was it a negative influence for those trying to stop using drugs.

Rachlis says there is more than sufficient evidence to support Insite's future.

"As physicians we find this particularly concerning that the federal government appears to be flouting the scientific evidence in this area," he said.

Rachlis said he and co-author Kathleen Dooling, an associate medical officer of health in Ontario, decided to pursue the issue, because people with drug addictions aren't getting the best treatment available.

"That is driven mainly by ideology about the misconceptions about who addicts are."

He says drug addicts are sons and daughters, fathers, friends, neighbours and co-workers.

"They deserve as good a health care for their problems as we provide to people with heart disease or cancer."