INSITE OFFERS MORE THAN CLEAN EQUIPMENT FOR DRUG ADDICTS

Seven years and three months have passed since drugs claimed my
sister's life. She was only 35 years old.

Her drug of choice was heroine and, like most users, it controlled her
life.

I met her when I was four years old. At that time, I didn't know her
as a user. Those are the days I miss most.

Behind every drug addict is a soul. They are just like the rest of us,
but they have chosen different paths.

For my sister, that path had a fatal ending.

Eight years ago, the first supervised-injection site for drug users in
North America opened its doors in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

At Insite, there is always help available from peer support and mental
health workers, to counsellors and nurses. And, the 12 injection
booths allow addicts to inject illicit drugs under the supervision of
health care staff.

Insite also supplies clean equipment. For my sister, this may have
saved her. It was the use of dirty needles that claimed her life in
February of 2004 after an infection had entered her blood system and
poisoned her.

Since the facility opened, there have been more than 2,400 overdoses
at the site and zero deaths. The number of overdose deaths in the
immediate vicinity has been reduced by 35%.

Three years ago, the Conservatives refused to renew a Health Canada
exemption that would allow the facility to operate in contravention of
criminal drug laws. As a result, the program may be forced to close
its doors in the near future.

Statistics show that safe-injection sites prevent overdose deaths and
help contain the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Numbers also indicate that more addicts have entered detox and
treatment programs since the facility opened in 2003.

It is a costly program with a $3-million price tag attached each year,
but it is keeping the addicts out of our already full hospitals. It is
also slowing the spread of fatal infections, and it offers the users
support and hope that one day they will walk down a different path. At
the centre, they are treated like humans, not just another drug addict.

The centre is a success, and it is repeatedly accomplishing its goal
of saving lives.

It would be a shame if the government ignored these facts and closed
the centre, which also houses a 30 bed detox and treatment facility
upstairs called Onsite.

"Insite saves lives, while Onsite changes lives," Dean Wilson told The
Province.

The 56-year-old speaks from experience. Fifteen months ago he ended
his 40-year habit of injecting cocaine 30 to 40 times a day.

Wilson is one of the plaintiffs in the upcoming supreme court case
over the future of Insite.

"I will stand with the users and fight this until the day I die," he
said.

Perhaps my sister would still be alive today if she had access to a
facility like Insite. Who knows, she may have even sat beside Mr.
Wilson at the court house and joined the fight.