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OfflineF1234K
Wizard Of Tryptamines
Male


Registered: 10/14/06
Posts: 1,241
Last seen: 12 years, 1 month
Safe-injection site in B.C. wins court protection
    #8455100 - 05/28/08 11:47 AM (15 years, 9 months ago)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080527.winsite0527/BNStory/Front/home
Quote:



VANCOUVER — North America's only sanctioned safe-injection site for drug addicts won a major court victory Tuesday, thwarting any chance of the federal Conservative government closing it down.

Mr. Justice Ian Pitfield of the B.C. Supreme Court granted users and staff at the popular but controversial facility known as Insite a permanent constitutional exemption from prosecution under federal drug laws.

Allowing addicts to inject their illegal drugs in a safe, medically supervised environment is a matter of sensible health care and they should not be under threat of being busted by police, the judge ruled.

In so doing, Judge Pitfield also declared that sections of Canada's drug laws against possession and trafficking in illegal narcotics were unconstitutional.

However, he gave the government until the end of June next year to redraft them in accordance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The ruling is narrow in scope and not expected to lead to widespread loosening of the laws against heroin, cocaine, marijuana and other illegal drugs.

But it was clearly a stunning reprieve for Insite.

The fate of the facility in the heart of Vancouver's drug-ravaged Downtown Eastside had been up in the air over fears that federal Health Minister Tony Clement would withdraw its legal exemption at the end of June.

Critics have accused the Tories of having an ideological bias against allowing the injection of illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine despite numerous scientific reports extolling the positive benefits of Insite.

But Judge Pitfield stripped the decision from Mr. Clement's hands, calling drug addiction an illness and applauding Insite's philosophy of harm reduction aimed at saving lives and curbing the spread of infectious diseases.

“While there is nothing to be said in favour of the injection of controlled substances that leads to addiction, there is much to be said against denying health care services that will ameliorate the effects of their condition,” said Judge Pitfield in his landmark, 59-page decision.

He rejected arguments from the federal lawyers that drug use was a matter of individual choice and it was up to the government whether addicts at Insite should be immune from prosecution.

“Society cannot condone addiction, but in the face of its presence, it cannot fail to manage it, hopefully with ultimate success reflected in the cure of the addicted individual and abstinence,” Judge Pitfield said.

“Simply stated, I cannot agree with Canada's submission that an addict must feed his addiction in an unsafe environment when a safe environment that may lead to rehabilitation is the alternative.”

Supporters of Insite, which enjoys strong backing among politicians, police and health-care providers in the city, were overjoyed by the judgment.

“It's very exciting, and a great relief for the staff,” said Mark Townsend of the Portland Hotel Society, which helps operate Insite and brought the case before the courts.

“This means they can now go about their business without some monkey on their back, stemming from some weird ideology in Ottawa.”

The addicts who crowd the facility every day now have one less thing to worry about, Mr. Townsend said.

“This means we can stay open and hopefully there will be no more of this silliness from [the federal government]. It's all very exciting.”

Lawyer Monique Pongracic-Speier, who argued the case on behalf of several drug addicts and the Portland Hotel Society, said the ruling has the potential to be a real watershed in treating injection drug users.

“Clearly, Canada has lost on this issue. The court accepted evidence that Insite provides a vital health care service to people who need it,” Ms. Pongracic-Speier said.

“To the best of my knowledge, this is the first ruling of its kind, certainly with respect to the use of heroin and cocaine.”

She added that the bold judgment by the court may open the door to similar facilities elsewhere in the country.

Essentially, Judge Pitfield decided that applying federal drug laws to Insite users while they are at the facility interferes with their constitutional right to life, liberty or security.

He outlined a litany of problems addicts face, including drug overdoses, HIV infection, syphilis and prostitution, all of which Insite attempts to curb.

Once an individual is addicted to injection drugs, they are no longer using them for recreation, Judge Pitfield said. Their addiction becomes an illness that needs treatment.

He compared their plight to alcoholics and those hooked on cigarettes, problems recognized by society even though the substances are legal.

“Society neither condemns the individual who chooses to drink or smoke to excess, nor deprives that individual of a range of health care services,” Judge Pitfield reasoned.

“I cannot see any rational or logical reason why the approach should be different when dealing with the addiction to narcotics.”

A spokesman for Mr. Clement said the federal Health Minister is studying the decision and would have no immediate comment.

Provincial Health Minister George Abbott welcomed the ruling, and quickly speculated that it could lead to more such facilities in the province.

“We are strongly supportive of Insite and we look forward to continue our funding of it.”

However, drug addict Jason Reimer, who described himself as an intermittent user of the centre, was equivocal about the ruling.

“I think Insite should be able to stay open, but I also think there should be more resources available … for people wanting to get clean,” he said. “There's free everything down here, so why would anyone feel the need to leave, if everything is here?” Since Insite opened in 2003, more than a million injections have taken place at its 12 cubicles.

The facility is open 18 hours a day, and staff describe it as the busiest such clinic in the world.

With reports from Sunny Dhillon, Cathryn Atkinson and Gloria Galloway.


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Im Not Living, Im Just Killing Time

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Offlinetodesengel
the chinese chicken


Registered: 08/04/05
Posts: 809
Last seen: 4 years, 4 months
Re: Safe-injection site in B.C. wins court protection [Re: F1234K]
    #8455117 - 05/28/08 11:52 AM (15 years, 9 months ago)

Technically it is a step forward... At least they even allowed such a thing.

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OfflineDeebard420
"Bostons Finest"
Male User Gallery

Registered: 03/15/08
Posts: 166
Loc: In A Mind Fuck
Last seen: 14 years, 7 months
Re: Safe-injection site in B.C. wins court protection [Re: todesengel]
    #8455253 - 05/28/08 12:42 PM (15 years, 9 months ago)

thats fucked up

Edited by Deebard420 (05/28/08 12:43 PM)

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OfflineSkeeblix
Dave Thomas
Male


Registered: 01/28/07
Posts: 1,745
Loc: Wendy's
Last seen: 8 years, 5 months
Re: Safe-injection site in B.C. wins court protection [Re: Deebard420]
    #8455445 - 05/28/08 01:47 PM (15 years, 9 months ago)

Quote:

Deebard420 said:
thats fucked up




How is it fucked up for the government to provide a safe, medically monitored place for people who use drugs? Would you rather these people be ODing in an alleyway and dying? It's about harm reduction, and keeping these people from killing themelves.

I don't know the details of the program and whether or not it provides pharmaceutically pure heroin, but if they do, that's also a step in the right direction, as street heroin is cut with all kinds of other shit that do potentially more harm than the drug itself.

This is a step forward even if you fail to see it as such.


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This post approved by:


Premedman1 said:
:lol: I just shat my pants.

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Offlinetodesengel
the chinese chicken


Registered: 08/04/05
Posts: 809
Last seen: 4 years, 4 months
Re: Safe-injection site in B.C. wins court protection [Re: Skeeblix]
    #8455489 - 05/28/08 01:57 PM (15 years, 9 months ago)

Thats weird... so they can't legally be selling the heroin, but if someone brought in some bad shit and they had a medical personal inject them and they died, would that manifest into some sort of lawsuit?

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Offlinerexmundi
Stranger

Registered: 08/10/07
Posts: 314
Last seen: 14 years, 4 months
Re: Safe-injection site in B.C. wins court protection [Re: todesengel]
    #8455791 - 05/28/08 03:37 PM (15 years, 9 months ago)

Insite doesn't let you bring your own street grade stuff. The other clinics in vancouver which are being shut down I believe, were just "safe injection" and so users brought their own stuff in and used under monitered conditions. They had to inject themselves, so no liability I don't think. And yeah, those ones are getting closed, just Insite gets to stay open, as part of NAOMI, the North American Opiate Medical Initiative I think.


--------------------
"I Love Democracy"
-Emporer Palpatine


Fuck the system.

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OfflinePreyToGod
peace.pot.microdot.
Male


Registered: 01/23/08
Posts: 693
Loc: truckin,,,
Last seen: 14 years, 30 days
Re: Safe-injection site in B.C. wins court protection [Re: rexmundi]
    #8456137 - 05/28/08 05:09 PM (15 years, 9 months ago)

I'm sure many people who have come to now the facility as a safe haven are very relieved. Being able to use in a place that is safe and clean is saving the lives of lots people who couldn't stop even if it were shut down by keeping them off the streets. This sort of "hospitaL' is a blessing.


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"We live together, we act on, and react to, one another but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves... By its very nature every embodied spirit is doomed to suffer and enjoy in solitude." Huxuly
the man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed

just because we all see the:greenshroom:
doesn't mean we all see the same
:mushroom2:

I pushed my fingers through the earth, returned this flower to the dirt. so it could live, I walked away now. But I know... Not a day goes by when I don't feel this burn. There's a point we pass from which we can't return. I've felt the cold rain of the coming storm
None but ourselves can free our minds.”



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InvisibleDisco Cat
iS A PoiNdexteR

Registered: 09/15/00
Posts: 2,601
Re: Safe-injection site in B.C. wins court protection [Re: F1234K]
    #8456346 - 05/28/08 05:46 PM (15 years, 9 months ago)

Ottawa ‘disappointed' with B.C. court ruling on safe-injection site


JAMES KELLER AND GREG JOYCE
The Canadian Press
May 28, 2008 at 5:14 PM EDT

Canada's federal health minister said his government is “obviously very disappointed” with a British Columbia court ruling that struck down laws prohibiting possession and trafficking of drugs by those accessing help at supervised injection sites.

The B.C. Supreme Court ruling effectively granted a one-year reprieve for Vancouver's controversial injection facility.

“We disagree with the judgment,” Mr. Clement told reporters in Ottawa.

“Our government believes that the best way to deal with the health issues of drug addicts is to offer treatment and indeed to prevent people from getting on to illicit drugs in the first place.”

Mr. Clement also strongly suggested the Conservative government was opposed to the facility's continued operation.

“We don't consider it the best health outcome to keep people in a position where they continue to use the illicit drugs, to inject the illicit drugs.”

The facility began as a pilot project and has been allowed to continue to operate because of exemptions granted by the federal government under a section of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

The latest exemption was to expire June 30.

But the B.C. court ruling allows the facility in the Downtown Eastside known as Insite to operate at least until June 30, 2009.

Clement said the federal government is “examining our options” and any decision to appeal would be announced by Justice Minister Rob Nicholson.

Justice Ian Pitfield said in the ruling released Tuesday that denying access to the site ignores the illness of addiction and violates drug addicts' right – enshrined in Section 7 of the Charter – to life, liberty and security.

“While there is nothing to be said in favour of the injection of controlled substances that leads to addiction, there is much to be said against denying addicts health-care services that will ameliorate the effects of their condition,” he wrote.

“I cannot agree with Canada's submission that an addict must feed his addiction in an unsafe environment when a safe environment that may lead to rehabilitation is the alternative.”

While Judge Pitfield's decision striking down two sections of the federal drug laws doesn't take effect until next year, he granted Insite an immediate exemption, allowing it to remain open.

Law professor Isabel Grant of the University of B.C. said the decision would almost certainly be appealed.

“When a court strikes down important legislation, the federal government is going to want more than just a single B.C. Supreme Court justice making that decision,” she said.

The judge's ruling, said Prof. Grant, is asking Parliament to exempt trafficking and possession laws from those accessing treatment at safe injection sites.

“It wouldn't be that difficult for Parliament to amend them,” she said.

“The judge is saying that because we're dealing with the life and security of the person, the individuals who use this clinic, you can't have these blanket prohibitions when it's being used in the name of health care.

“There has to be some kind of exemption made to allow for this kind of medically supervised use.”

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association called the ruling a “major victory for social justice in the Downtown Eastside.”

“The court has decided that the government cannot deny drug addicts access to the health care that they desperately need and that Insite provides,” the association said in a prepared statement.

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OfflineF1234K
Wizard Of Tryptamines
Male


Registered: 10/14/06
Posts: 1,241
Last seen: 12 years, 1 month
Re: Safe-injection site in B.C. wins court protection [Re: Disco Cat]
    #8456752 - 05/28/08 07:01 PM (15 years, 9 months ago)

No they just provide them with clean needles, no heroin.

Its about health and safety, not a place for kids to go to to buy heroin.

Anyone who thinks this should be shut down is sick.


--------------------
Im Not Living, Im Just Killing Time

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InvisibleaDoS
freedom lover
Male User Gallery


Registered: 06/18/05
Posts: 7,590
Loc: land of the free
Re: Safe-injection site in B.C. wins court protection [Re: F1234K]
    #8457141 - 05/28/08 08:35 PM (15 years, 9 months ago)

DUDE NICE


guess who is going to BC now??




<----- this guy! :grin:


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"If we could sniff or swallow something that would, for five or six hours each day, abolish our solitude as individuals, atone us with our fellows in a glowing exaltation of affection and make life in all its aspects seem not only worth living, but divinely beautiful and significant, and if this heavenly, world-transfiguring drug were of such a kind that we could wake up next morning with a clear head and an undamaged constitution - then, it seems to me, all our problems (and not merely the one small problem of discovering a novel pleasure) would be wholly solved and earth would become paradise." - Aldous Huxley
:drooling:GIVE ME OPIATES OR GIVE ME DEATH:drooling:

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