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chodamunky
Cheers!
Registered: 02/28/02
Posts: 2,030
Loc: sailing the seas of chees...
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Canada Gives More Time to Drug Injection Site
#7479934 - 10/03/07 07:41 AM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
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Canada Gives More Time to Drug Injection Site Reuters Oct 03, 2007
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-10-3/60362.html
VANCOUVER, British Columbia—The Canadian government granted another reprieve on Tuesday to North America's only sanctioned injection site for drug addicts, saying it wants more research before deciding its fate.
Vancouver's Insite facility had faced closure at the end of the year, but Health Minister Tony Clement notified the local health authority that the injection site can stay open until June 30, 2008.
The facility, which opened in 2003 as part of a research project in Vancouver's poor, drug-infested Downtown Eastside neighborhood, needs an exemption from Canada's drug laws to remain in operation.
Ottawa has been weighing Insite's long-term future, and the six-month extension will allow continued research on its impact on efforts to promote drug treatment programs and reduce crime, Clement said.
Addicts using drugs such as heroin and cocaine are given clean needles to inject with at the facility in a room supervised by a nurse. After shooting up, they go to a "chill-out room" before returning to the street.
Insite receives more than 600 addict visits daily.
Insite's supporters, including Vancouver police, say studies have already shown it has prevented overdose deaths and helped get addicts into treatment. They say it also has slowed the sharing of needles, which is how AIDS and other diseases are often spread.
Insite received a similar reprieve last year.
"This is the second time that the federal government has stalled on this decision, and said that more research is needed. But the fact is, Minister Clement is asking questions that have already been answered and calling for research that's already been done," said Richard Elliott, executive director of the Canadian AIDS/HIV Legal Network.
But Insite's critics, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, have complained that the government should not be sanctioning illegal drug use. The U.S. government has complained that Insite is a weak link in Canada's anti-drug efforts.
Questions about Insite's fate had been fueled by the government's announcement last weekend that it was ready to unveil a new national drug strategy expected to emphasize a tougher stand on illegal drug use.
The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, which oversees the facility, was pleased with the announcement and ready to supply federal officials with any additional information they need, spokeswoman Viviana Zanocco said.
Victoria, British Columbia, has said it also wants permission to establish a drug injection facility, but the federal government has ruled out setting up any new sites until the research in Vancouver is completed.
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 1 month, 19 days
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Re: Canada Gives More Time to Drug Injection Site [Re: chodamunky]
#7479960 - 10/03/07 07:54 AM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
But Insite's critics, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, have complained that the government should not be sanctioning illegal drug use.
So legalize all drugs. Problem solved. Oh wait, that would mean people would have to decide on their if they want to put something into their body. Such freedom would never work...
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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badchad
Mad Scientist
Registered: 03/02/05
Posts: 13,377
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Re: Canada Gives More Time to Drug Injection Site [Re: chodamunky]
#7480192 - 10/03/07 09:30 AM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
chodamunky said:
Insite's supporters, including Vancouver police, say studies have already shown it has prevented overdose deaths and helped get addicts into treatment. They say it also has slowed the sharing of needles, which is how AIDS and other diseases are often spread.
And at the moment, this is really the heart of the matter. Is it working? Further, is it working better than the "current standard" and is it cost-effective.
When people bring up subjective arguments of "the government shouldn't support drug use" the best rebuttal is usually one involving objective data.
-------------------- ...the whole experience is (and is as) a profound piece of knowledge. It is an indellible experience; it is forever known. I have known myself in a way I doubt I would have ever occurred except as it did. Smith, P. Bull. Menninger Clinic (1959) 23:20-27; p. 27. ...most subjects find the experience valuable, some find it frightening, and many say that is it uniquely lovely. Osmond, H. Annals, NY Acad Science (1957) 66:418-434; p.436
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 1 month, 19 days
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Re: Canada Gives More Time to Drug Injection Site [Re: badchad]
#7480530 - 10/03/07 11:17 AM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
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> the best rebuttal is usually one involving objective data
Most of the people that use the subjective arguments of "I don't like it" really don't care about the objective data, unfortunately. These folks don't care about reality, hence the use of subjective arguments to begin with. In their mind, illegal drugs are bad, and that is all that matters regardless of anything else.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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pabloescabar
Stranger thanyou
Registered: 05/02/07
Posts: 383
Last seen: 15 years, 4 months
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Re: Canada Gives More Time to Drug Injection Site [Re: Seuss]
#7482023 - 10/03/07 06:20 PM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
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I am so surprised that someone has not assassinated the worlds chief of police. Conservatives are just keeping the world from progressing
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 1 month, 19 days
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Re: Canada Gives More Time to Drug Injection Site [Re: pabloescabar]
#7483736 - 10/04/07 04:26 AM (16 years, 5 months ago) |
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> I am so surprised that someone has not assassinated the worlds chief of police.
Contrary to popular belief, drugs do not turn people into crazed homicidal maniacs bent on killing people to ensure they get their next fix.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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