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The government continues to oppose effective harm reduction with its ‘Respect for Communities Act,’ writes Dr. Mark Tyndall. Meanwhile, lives are being destroyed.

On Sept. 29, 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruled that the federal government could not close down Insite — North America’s only supervised injection facility. The ruling was clear: “applying the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) to Insite was arbitrary, undermining the very purposes of the CDSA, which include public health and safety. It is also grossly disproportionate: the potential denial of health services and the correlative increase in the risk of death and disease to injection drug users outweigh any benefit that might be derived from maintaining an absolute prohibition on possession of illegal drugs on Insite’s premises.”

The federal government says it is giving a voice to local communities with a bill introduced today that lays out criteria for getting permission to open a supervised drug injection site in Canada.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq introduced the proposed respect for communities act in the House of Commons and at a press conference she said the proposed rules are in line with a Supreme Court decision in 2011 that allowed Vancouver's InSite clinic to stay open.

"There's a health crisis in Ottawa."

Chris Dalton's pronouncement contains not a trace of drama, but it's hard to reconcile with the city I see at the moment. It's springtime in the national capital, and it's beautiful—the bike paths along the canal and rivers are getting busy, trees are flourishing in greens and reds, and the historical architecture in the core of the city glints beneath the sunlight.

Volunteers for the Campaign for Safer Consumption Sites in Ottawa (CSCS) went door-to-door in the Byward Market and Lowertown this past weekend to engage with the community, and received broad support for their campaign from residents.

In their first weekend of canvassing in an ongoing campaign, CSCS volunteers consulted with over 100 households. At each home, residents were asked whether they would support the creation of a public health facility where people could use their own drugs under medical supervision.

An overwhelming 78% of those responding said they supported the implementation of a supervised drug consumption site in Ottawa, and 65% said they would welcome such a site in their own neighbourhood.