First anniversary of safe injection site (CBC Vancouver)

First anniversary of safe injection site

WebPosted Sep 15 2004 09:22 AM PDT
CBC Vancouver

Vancouver Coastal Health Authority backgrounder

VANCOUVER - The society which provides frontline staff at Vancouver's safe injection site says the number of visits to the Downtown Eastside clinic has quadrupled to 840 a day since it opened its doors a year ago.

Portland Hotel Society spokesperson Mark Townsend says the fact that drug users are going to the clinic is making the community safer.

"The people using it are reducing pressure on the streets, and also they are minimizing the spread of infectious diseases," he says.

"And they are less likely, from the preliminary data, to be sharing needles or equipment."

LINK: FAQs about safe injection site (pdf)

A federally-funded study is now determining if the facility is saving lives, stopping the spread of infectious diseases and helping to steer people into other social services.

The results of that study will be released next week.

Townsend expects the data to be positive, and adds the Downtown Eastside could use a second safe injection site for people hooked on drugs.

"You know, to the public those might seem like evil people, but they were nice people," he says. "I had to speak to the person's mother, and the mother loved that person, and there was no need for them to die."

LINK: Vancouver Coastal Health Authority backgrounder

CBC Vancouver