I ran some searches to see if a topic had been made about it yet and came up empty. My apologies in advance if I've made an oversight.
First and foremost, the news on which this discussion surrounds. Canada court lets injection facility remain open [http://news.yahoo.com/canada-court-lets-injection-facility-remain-open-140714751.html] For those who don't wish to follow the link, I've placed the article in the spoiler below
The TL;DR for those who don't read it is that the Canadian Supreme Court ruled today that a group of injection clinics may remain open. At the clinics addicts are able to use their drugs in a safe, sterile environment. This means they're given a clean needle and sterilized water to mix said drugs. The users, however, must bring their own and are monitored by nurses on staff in case something goes wrong. There have been 1500 overdoses occur at these facilities and to date no one has died.
The argument is that such facilities are saving lives by preventing the spread of diseases, such as AIDS, that can be transmitted by used needles and making sure there is someone on hand to intervene should an addict overdose.
My distillation of the article is by no means the best, and I'd encourage you to still read it before commenting. This is the internet however and there's not much I can do to stop you from posting without reading.
In my opinion, such a facility is a good thing. It's stopping the spread of diseases and they've already saved the lives of 1500 people who otherwise may not have survived to, hopefully, reconsider their actions. I think that it's a more even handed approach to dealing with drug abuse than outright prohibition. The person brings the drug, they're given what they need to take it, and left to make the decision for themselves. To me it seems a far better solution than callously letting them kill themselves in private, based on some misguided idea that "they deserve it".(as a few of my friends have put it) It's the equivalent of a parent saying to their child, "Okay, you want to eat a 15 pound bag of Halloween candy? Go right ahead, I'll be in the kitchen if something goes wrong."
First and foremost, the news on which this discussion surrounds. Canada court lets injection facility remain open [http://news.yahoo.com/canada-court-lets-injection-facility-remain-open-140714751.html] For those who don't wish to follow the link, I've placed the article in the spoiler below
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) ? North America's only legal drug injection facility saves lives and should stay open, Canada's Supreme Court ruled Friday.
The court's decision could facilitate the eventual opening of other facilities in different cities, but the court's ruling applied only to the site in Vancouver.
The facility called Insite was promoted by its founders as a safe, humane space for drug abusers. Canada's Conservative government said it aids drug abuse, but the court ruled the government should stop interfering in the controversial clinic.
The top court issued its 9-0 decision in a landmark case that received international attention.
As of 2009, there were 65 injection facilities in 27 cities in Canada, Australia and western Europe, according to the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The World Health Organization has called them a "priority intervention" in slowing the spread of AIDS via infected needles.
When Insite opened, the Bush administration's drug czar, John Walters, called the operation "state-sponsored suicide."
Addicts are given clean needles and sterilized water in which to mix their drug. They bring their own drugs and inject at 12 stainless steel alcoves with mirrors on the walls so nurses on a raised platform can see them.
Defenders of Insite ? a taxpayer-funded operation in a seedy, drug-infested district of Vancouver, British Columbia ? said the facility is providing a form of health care that is a provincial matter under Canada's constitution. The Canadian government countered that because heroin is a federally banned substance the national law should trump provincial rights.
The ruling said the government's previous decision to end the drug-law exemption threatened injection drug users' health and their lives.
"During its eight years of operation, Insite has been proven to save lives with no discernible negative impact on the public safety and health objectives of Canada," the court said. "The effect of denying the services of Insite to the population it serves and the correlative increase in the risk of death and disease to injection drug users is grossly disproportionate to any benefit that Canada might derive from presenting a uniform stance on the possession of narcotics."
Insite lawyer Joe Arvay said it means the facility can remain under a permanent exemption from Canada's criminal drug laws. He said they lost on the jurisdictional issue but won on the right to continue with the exemption.
Other Canadians cities in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec have been looking at establishing similar sites.
"The battle for other sites across Canada remains to be fought," he said, adding the ruling will give those cities hope. "Insite is going to remain open no matter what."
Conservative Health Minister Leona Aglukak said in Parliament the government was disappointed with the ruling they but would comply. She said the system should be focused on prevention and treatment as the best ways to combat drug addiction.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper underscored that sentiment.
"We're disappointed. We have a different policy. We'll take a look at the decision but we'll clearly act within the constraints of the decision," he said.
Arvay said there is no other avenue of appeal for the Canadian government.
The decision was greeted with a massive cheer from hundreds gathered outside Insite before dawn Friday.
The storefront facility sits in the Downtown Eastside, 15 blocks of cheap rooming houses where addiction and street prostitution are rampant and an estimated 5,000 of the area's 12,000 residents are believed to be addicted to drugs.
Julio Montaner, president of the International AIDS Society, said the area's infection rate is the worst in the developed world. He said the decision "represents a victory for science over ideology."
The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority Chief Medical Health Officer Patricia Daly said it means they can prevent life-threatening diseases in a vulnerable population.
Insite averages more than 800 visitors a day and has supervised more than a million injections since it opened in 2003. Insite has not reported any deaths at the facility.
Dr. Robert Kerr of the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Medicine said there have been about 1,500 overdoses at Insite.
"Nobody has died at this facility," he said. "This is without a doubt a facility that saves lives."
Laura Thomas, California deputy director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said no one has tried to open a legal safe injection facility in the U.S. but that the Canadian ruling will help U.S. cities, such as New York and San Francisco, where there are advocates. She said the science and evidence developed by Canadian researchers will help U.S. advocates.
"It's such a victory for compassion and commonsense," she said.
The court's decision could facilitate the eventual opening of other facilities in different cities, but the court's ruling applied only to the site in Vancouver.
The facility called Insite was promoted by its founders as a safe, humane space for drug abusers. Canada's Conservative government said it aids drug abuse, but the court ruled the government should stop interfering in the controversial clinic.
The top court issued its 9-0 decision in a landmark case that received international attention.
As of 2009, there were 65 injection facilities in 27 cities in Canada, Australia and western Europe, according to the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The World Health Organization has called them a "priority intervention" in slowing the spread of AIDS via infected needles.
When Insite opened, the Bush administration's drug czar, John Walters, called the operation "state-sponsored suicide."
Addicts are given clean needles and sterilized water in which to mix their drug. They bring their own drugs and inject at 12 stainless steel alcoves with mirrors on the walls so nurses on a raised platform can see them.
Defenders of Insite ? a taxpayer-funded operation in a seedy, drug-infested district of Vancouver, British Columbia ? said the facility is providing a form of health care that is a provincial matter under Canada's constitution. The Canadian government countered that because heroin is a federally banned substance the national law should trump provincial rights.
The ruling said the government's previous decision to end the drug-law exemption threatened injection drug users' health and their lives.
"During its eight years of operation, Insite has been proven to save lives with no discernible negative impact on the public safety and health objectives of Canada," the court said. "The effect of denying the services of Insite to the population it serves and the correlative increase in the risk of death and disease to injection drug users is grossly disproportionate to any benefit that Canada might derive from presenting a uniform stance on the possession of narcotics."
Insite lawyer Joe Arvay said it means the facility can remain under a permanent exemption from Canada's criminal drug laws. He said they lost on the jurisdictional issue but won on the right to continue with the exemption.
Other Canadians cities in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec have been looking at establishing similar sites.
"The battle for other sites across Canada remains to be fought," he said, adding the ruling will give those cities hope. "Insite is going to remain open no matter what."
Conservative Health Minister Leona Aglukak said in Parliament the government was disappointed with the ruling they but would comply. She said the system should be focused on prevention and treatment as the best ways to combat drug addiction.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper underscored that sentiment.
"We're disappointed. We have a different policy. We'll take a look at the decision but we'll clearly act within the constraints of the decision," he said.
Arvay said there is no other avenue of appeal for the Canadian government.
The decision was greeted with a massive cheer from hundreds gathered outside Insite before dawn Friday.
The storefront facility sits in the Downtown Eastside, 15 blocks of cheap rooming houses where addiction and street prostitution are rampant and an estimated 5,000 of the area's 12,000 residents are believed to be addicted to drugs.
Julio Montaner, president of the International AIDS Society, said the area's infection rate is the worst in the developed world. He said the decision "represents a victory for science over ideology."
The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority Chief Medical Health Officer Patricia Daly said it means they can prevent life-threatening diseases in a vulnerable population.
Insite averages more than 800 visitors a day and has supervised more than a million injections since it opened in 2003. Insite has not reported any deaths at the facility.
Dr. Robert Kerr of the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Medicine said there have been about 1,500 overdoses at Insite.
"Nobody has died at this facility," he said. "This is without a doubt a facility that saves lives."
Laura Thomas, California deputy director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said no one has tried to open a legal safe injection facility in the U.S. but that the Canadian ruling will help U.S. cities, such as New York and San Francisco, where there are advocates. She said the science and evidence developed by Canadian researchers will help U.S. advocates.
"It's such a victory for compassion and commonsense," she said.
The TL;DR for those who don't read it is that the Canadian Supreme Court ruled today that a group of injection clinics may remain open. At the clinics addicts are able to use their drugs in a safe, sterile environment. This means they're given a clean needle and sterilized water to mix said drugs. The users, however, must bring their own and are monitored by nurses on staff in case something goes wrong. There have been 1500 overdoses occur at these facilities and to date no one has died.
The argument is that such facilities are saving lives by preventing the spread of diseases, such as AIDS, that can be transmitted by used needles and making sure there is someone on hand to intervene should an addict overdose.
My distillation of the article is by no means the best, and I'd encourage you to still read it before commenting. This is the internet however and there's not much I can do to stop you from posting without reading.
In my opinion, such a facility is a good thing. It's stopping the spread of diseases and they've already saved the lives of 1500 people who otherwise may not have survived to, hopefully, reconsider their actions. I think that it's a more even handed approach to dealing with drug abuse than outright prohibition. The person brings the drug, they're given what they need to take it, and left to make the decision for themselves. To me it seems a far better solution than callously letting them kill themselves in private, based on some misguided idea that "they deserve it".(as a few of my friends have put it) It's the equivalent of a parent saying to their child, "Okay, you want to eat a 15 pound bag of Halloween candy? Go right ahead, I'll be in the kitchen if something goes wrong."
