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W E DN E SDAY, F E B RUA RY 1 9 , 2 0 1 4 THE VANCOUVER COURIER
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‘Illegal’ injection site seeks formal approval 12TH & CAMBIE with Mike Howell
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drug injection site is again making news in Vancouver. But it’s not the Insite facility on East Hastings. Vancouver Coastal Health and the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation announced Feb.13 that they submitted a formal application to Health Canada for an exemption from federal drug laws to allow the Dr. Peter Centre to continue providing injection services for their clients. That’s right, “continue providing injection services.” As regular readers know, the three-stall injection room at the Dr. Peter Centre in the West End has operated since February 2002. The injection room is a small component of the centre, which houses a day health program and a 24-hour care residence. The facility caters to people with AIDS and those with mental illnesses and addictions. So to the question: Why the request for an exemption when the centre’s injection site has operated for more than a decade? The short answer: It’s a formality. Another short answer: The centre thought
photo Dan Toulgoet
The Dr. Peter Centre in the West End is currently operating without an official exemption from federal drug laws. it had already been exempted. Say what? Yep, there was a mix-up and it wasn’t until sometime in 2006 that the centre discovered Health Canada never granted the facility an exemption. So, effectively, the injection site at the centre has operated illegally for all these years. I say “illegal” because that’s the term a Health Canada spokesperson used when I asked in 2006 about the status of the Dr. Peter injection site. He also said it would be up to the local police force — in this case, the Vancouver Police Department — to decide whether it wanted to shut down the service. That, obviously, hasn’t happened.
The fact is the VPD has known about the site for several years. Here’s what the VPD’s drug policy coordinator, Insp. Scott Thompson, told me in September 2006: “This is not something that has a big impact on public order in any way, shape or form, from what I can gather. When you look at our resources and the intent of what we’re trying to accomplish in relation to public disorder, it doesn’t seem to me that would be a huge priority.” I know, I know, he said that more than seven years ago. So the other day, I contacted Const. Brian Montague, a VPD media liaison officer, and reminded him of what Thompson told
me. Here’s what Montague had to say in an email response: “Our position has not changed,” he wrote. “What I would say is that the VPD has no public safety concerns regarding the Dr. Peter Centre application for exemption. Hope that answers your question.” Health Minister Terry Lake and Mayor Gregor Robertson are also on record of supporting the centre’s request for an exemption. That leaves the Harper government and Health Canada to give the application a yea or nay. Their decision will test the Harper government’s new Respect for Communities Act which sets out a long list of criteria an applicant must meet to get an exemption to operate an injection site. That includes the need for an applicant to provide information outlining the views of police, municipal leaders, public health officials and provincial health ministers. The applicant is also required to provide documentation that shows the site’s expected impact on crime rates, treatment options for drug users, the public health reasons for needing such a site and evidence there are resources to sustain the site’s operations. Any bets on what Harper will decide? As far as the VPD is concerned, it won’t seem to matter either way. mhowell@vancourier.com twitter.com/Howellings