OTTAWA — Instead of increasing crime in its neighbourhood, Vancouver's supervised drug-injection site has actually produced a “modest decline” in public drug use, says a criminologist who studied the situation.
Neil Boyd, who looked at the impact of Insite on public order between 2000 and 2006, said it hasn't had the “honey pot” effect some had feared – that is, it hasn't served to draw more crime to the area.
The concern was that “dealers throughout Vancouver and possibly beyond may be drawn to Insite, amplifying the kinds of disturbance that are typically associated with illicit drug use; drug dealing, property crime, prostitution and violent crime.”
In fact, he said, his group's analysis of police crime reports in the area over four years found just the opposite.
“Our detailed maps confirmed the hypothesis of no impact, no significant changes in relation to criminal offences in the area could be traced to the establishment of Insite,” he said.
Mr. Boyd, a professor at Simon Fraser University, said he hopes Health Minister Tony Clement and the Conservative government will be guided by science, not politics, in deciding whether to extend the program beyond its June 30 expiry date.
“I think he has to put aside his ideology,” Dr. Boyd said.
Libby Davies, the New Democrat MP whose riding embraces the troubled downtown area, echoed Mr. Boyd.
“It's time for this government to make decisions based on evidence,” she said.
Supporters of the safe-injection site want the government to extend the licence for 10 years.
Mr. Boyd said the majority of local police, residents and businesses support expansion of the program and wider distribution of safe-injection sites in Vancouver.
A survey of people living in the area found that 60 per cent felt that Insite had a positive effect.
Mr. Boyd also conducted a cost-benefit analysis of the site and he says it has returned between one and four times the cost of running it in savings to health care and law enforcement.
People have to weigh the benefits, he said.
“The alternative is that they shoot up beside dumpsters. The alternative is that they cost us all more because there are higher rates of HIV, Hepatitis C, violence.”
However, Barry McKnight, the chief of police in Fredericton and the drug policy spokesman for the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, was lukewarm on the whole supervised injection idea, even though it's been endorsed by Vancouver police.
“My instinct all along on this is that the people who suffer from addiction need a whole heck of a lot more than a clean place to inject drugs,” Mr. McKnight said.
“While there certainly are arguments about some types of harms that may be mitigated for that individual, I think that individual needs a whole lot more.”
He said the Vancouver site may work in the context of that community, but he wouldn't adopt it for his own city.
Winnipeg MP Steven Fletcher, secretary to the health minister, has said science alone will not be the only factor in the Tory government's decision whether to extend Insite funding.
Mr. Fletcher said the science is conflicting, so Mr. Clement will have to assess what Mr. Fletcher calls the “realities of the situation.”
Mr. Clement himself said Monday that a decision on the fate of Insite will be made by the end of June. However, he rejected suggestions that the government has already made up its mind to say no.
“We're the government that actually wants more research . . . because we want to make sure that this decision is the right decision for Canada, the right decision for addicts the right decision for the community in Vancouver,” he told the Commons.
He also said the government recently announced $111-million for drug treatment and a warning campaign against drug use.
The government “cares about addicts and cares about those who would otherwise be twisted on to these very dangerous drugs.”
Two Vancouver groups are in B.C. Supreme Court seeking to keep Insite open.
The provincial government, Vancouver's mayor and the Vancouver police department have endorsed the program and numerous scientific studies have sung its praises.
Peer-reviewed research has suggested it minimizes harm to addicts, reduces the spread of disease and directs addicts toward rehabilitation programs while reducing emergency health-care and law-enforcement budgets.
But opponents say allowing people to inject illegal opiates under supervision promotes drug use by facilitating addiction.
Mr. Boyd said Insite encourages drug users to seek counselling and treatment. There's a detox facility just upstairs from the supervised-injection site.
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