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Simplepowa
In Pursuit of Knowledge


Registered: 03/06/09
Posts: 4,310
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Montreal to get 4 supervised injection sites 2
#19291356 - 12/18/13 12:51 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Drug users will have access to clean needles and safe space to shoot up
The Canadian Press Posted: Dec 11, 2013 8:17 PM ET Last Updated: Dec 11, 2013 8:20 PM ET
A standard kit from a supervised injection site helps prevent the transmission of HIV and hepatitis C. Montreal Public Health officials say the province's health care system will benefit greatly from the four planned supervised injection sites.
A standard kit from a supervised injection site helps prevent the transmission of HIV and hepatitis C. Montreal Public Health officials say the province's health care system will benefit greatly from the four planned supervised injection sites. (Radio-Canada)
Montreal will soon be home to four supervised injection sites for intravenous drug users.
While the service is expected to cost $2.7 million annually, the Public Health Department said the health care system will ultimately come out the winner.
Richard Massé, the director of Montreal Public Health, argues that while the the experiment may seem expensive, the quality of life will improve for the people who live near the sites, and for the drug users.
Massé said the social gains will surpass the cost if people consider the complications associated with injection drug use — hepatitis C, HIV and overdoses, among others — and the risk of contamination associated with dirty needles left lying around.
"You gain more with these services than leaving people to deal with their health problems, not to mention the social costs for the population living nearby," said Massé.
An additional $3.2 million will be needed to launch the service, buy equipment and renovate the designated spaces.
Massé said, according to a study commissioned by the city’s public health office, the service would pay for itself after four years.
The idea is not new — similar centres already exist in Vancouver and several Montreal-based organizations, particularly Cactus, have been lobbying for them for years.
The Montreal health network will support community organizations that are already working with the target clientele. Three permanent centres, each with an injection room supervised by a nurse, will be implemented. A fourth, mobile centre will work to reach people in other areas that are particularly affected by intravenous drug use.
Massé said personnel won't administer injections and no drugs will be sold on site. However, medical services will be available in case of an overdose.
Montreal Public Health officials said they also hope that the supervised injection sites will encourage some drug users to eventually seek detox services. © The Canadian Press, 2013
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-to-get-4-supervised-injection-sites-1.2460681
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Absent Minded



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Re: Montreal to get 4 supervised injection sites [Re: Simplepowa]
#19292273 - 12/18/13 08:22 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Clean needles and a safe place to shoot go a long way in terms of harm reduction and risky injection habits, and possibly, medical issues resulting from shoddy or dirty practices.
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badchad
Mad Scientist

Registered: 03/02/05
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Re: Montreal to get 4 supervised injection sites [Re: Simplepowa]
#19292473 - 12/18/13 09:13 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Might as well offer them clean/purified drug as well.
-------------------- ...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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suniced
Simpleton


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Re: Montreal to get 4 supervised injection sites [Re: badchad]
#19292820 - 12/18/13 11:03 AM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
badchad said: Might as well offer them clean/purified drug as well.
Or inject them with ibogaine.
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shivas.wisdom
בּ



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Re: Montreal to get 4 supervised injection sites [Re: badchad]
#19293329 - 12/18/13 01:20 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
badchad said: Might as well offer them clean/purified drug as well.
We had this happening in BC just a few short months ago, before the federal government stepped in--luckily, I believe we have precedent for the constitutional validity of safe injection sites.
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badchad
Mad Scientist

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Re: Montreal to get 4 supervised injection sites [Re: shivas.wisdom]
#19293369 - 12/18/13 01:31 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
shivas.wisdom said:
We had this happening in BC just a few short months ago, before the federal government stepped in--luckily, I believe we have precedent for the constitutional validity of safe injection sites.
Yeah, what I meant was that it seems kind of silly to have a "safe" injection house, if the substance people are injecting is off the street and potentially unpure.
-------------------- ...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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shivas.wisdom
בּ



Registered: 02/19/09
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Re: Montreal to get 4 supervised injection sites [Re: badchad]
#19293457 - 12/18/13 01:55 PM (10 years, 1 month ago) |
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Not at all, unsafe injection practices on their own are responsible for the spread of HIV, hepatitis, and a whole host of other health complications.
Though it would make sense to provide a safe source of heroin as well, as it continues in the stream of harm reduction, greater official resistance to providing an illegal substance, vs providing safe injection havens, often prevents this from being the case.
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