Stymied by the Supreme Court in its efforts to shut down a supervised injection site for drug addicts in Vancouver, the Harper government is making it more difficult for the clinics to open elsewhere in the country.
Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq tabled a bill in Parliament on Thursday that would require the federal government to consider a range of factors, including the views of police, provincial ministers and local government officials before granting the exemption to drug laws that allows the clinics to operate.
…
Julio Montaner, the director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, said he is proud of the fact that InSite’s supporters won the legal battle to keep the facility open. The clinic has been credited with preventing overdose deaths and reducing the spread of blood-borne infections.
“Having said that, the evidence to date suggests that we lost the war,” Dr. Montaner said. “Because the reality is that InSite is open. But there has been not a single [additional] site opened across this country.”
Gloria Galloway
OTTOWA – The Globe and Mail