The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that a "safe injection site" in Vancouver, which aims to counter the spread HIV can continue to operate, providing a place for people to inject drugs under medical supervision and without the threat of arrest.
The federal government, including the Minister of Health had argued in court that the installation of the province sanctioned, called Insite, has to close because it violated the country's laws regarding possession and trafficking of controlled substances. "The effect of denying the services of Insite to the population it serves and the correlative increase in the risk of death and injecting drug users illness is grossly disproportionate to any benefit that Canada might derive from presenting a uniform stance on the possession of drugs, "the court wrote in its unanimous decision.
the "fabulous decision" opens the door to further discussion, including the ability to open multiple sites and even provide pharmaceutical grade opiate users, said Julio Montaner, director of the Centre of Excellence HIV / AIDS in Vancouver, which supported Insite since its inception in 03. "the federal government said abstinence is the best approach, and the court said if you stop the supervised injections, you kill people," said Montaner. he added that if his son was addicted to heroin, he wanted to stop using, but if he could not, "I'll tell next best thing is to reduce the harm."
Studies have shown that Insite has reduced overdose deaths and the risk of being infected with HIV and has also led to an increased use of drug treatment programs. Insite has kept its doors open for legal challenges and for now will continue to operate under an "exemption" laws on the control of federal substances.
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