National Board of Directors meets June 3-6, 2008
WHEREAS the Vancouver Insite Clinic is North America's first and only supervised injection site operating in Vancouver's downtown eastside since 2003 and is the first stepping stone to health delivery in a community where over 4,000 injection drug users live. Contact with the injection site has had a 33% increase in uptake of addiction treatment services and to date there has not been one death from overdose; and
WHEREAS Health Canada extended the existing operating exemption for the Vancouver supervised injection site to the end of June 2008; and
WHEREAS scientific date indicates Insite is meeting the following objectives:
- reducing public injections;
- reducing overdose fatalities
- reducing the transmission of blood-borne infections like HIV and Hepatitis C;
- improving public order; and
- increasing the use of detoxification services
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT PSAC lobby the federal government to amend Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act, to provide license and funding for the Vancouver Insite safe injection facility; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT PSAC lobby for safe injection facilities to be established across Canada; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT PSAC lobby the federal government to treat addictions to illicit substances as a health care issue and not as a criminal matter; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT PSAC lobby the federal government to support and expand the “Four Pillar” approach to addiction treatment throughout Canada: prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm reduction.
Date Modified : 2010/07/29
