Backers of Vancouver's supervised drug injection clinic are condemning the Conservative government for refusing to expand what they say is a successful program.
The facility, in the drug-ridden Downtown Eastside, is celebrating its fifth anniversary, and supporters say numerous scientific studies show that it reduces the risk of overdose deaths and helps addicts who really want to kick the habit.
Dr. Julio Montaner, head of the world-renowned B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, told a news conference the government should not be trying to kill the Insite facility but rather should be expanding the concept across Canada.
He accuses the government of genocide, saying the Tories want the drug population “gone.”
Criminologist Neil Boyd, who researched Insite for the federal government, says ideology and dogma are trumping science when it comes to deciding the facility's future.
The federal government has launched an appeal of a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that declared that federal drug laws preventing InSite from operating are unconstitutional.
Meanwhile, on Monday, NDP Leader Jack Layton said that an NDP government would immediately stand behind the controversial B.C. program, and lamented the Conservative government's desire to shut it down.
“All of the evidence indicates that this is a way that we can help people, and it is tragic that the federal government is not providing that support,” he said at a campaign stop in Montreal. “It saves lives.”
With a report from Omar El Akkad
