SAFE INJECTION SITES NOT A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT: LAWYER

(CNS) A lawyer for the Conservative government says it is not the
government's job to provide safe injection sites and there is no
constitutional right for addicts to inject illegal drugs.

The comments were made by Robert Frater, a lawyer for the federal
attorney-general, during an appeal of a ruling that allows Insite,
Vancouver's safe injection site, to stay open.

Last year B. C. Supreme Court Justice Ian Pitfield struck down the
laws prohibiting possession and trafficking of controlled substances
for the PHS Community Services Society, which runs Insite, finding
the laws prevent access to health care services for drug addicts.

But during the first of what is expected to be three days of appeal
arguments, Mr. Frater told a three-member panel of the B. C. Court of
Appeal that the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act does not infringe
the charter rights of addicts.

"There is no constitutional obligation on the state to provide
supervised injection rooms, and there is no constitutional right to
inject scheduled drugs," he said.