Documentary on Insite, Canada's first supervised consumption site

This documentary from National Geographic examines Insite, Canada's first supervised consumption site, which provides a safe and clean environment for people in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to use drugs and connect with health care & social services.

National Geographic's Taboo: Shooting heroin legally - Part 1

National Geographic's Taboo: Shooting heroin legally - Part 2

Please note that this documentary includes graphic footage of intravenous drug injection.

In 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the federal government could not shut the facility down, because it provides a life-saving service to a population at high risk of infectious diseases and overdose death. This ruling opens the door for similar facilities across Canada.

Here in Ottawa, the rate of HIV and hepatitis C among people who use drugs is one of the highest in the country. Last year, 36 people died of drug overdose. It's clear that there is an urgent need for supervised consumption sites similar to Insite in Ottawa.

Insite statistics from 2010:

• 312,214 visits to the site by 12,236 unique individuals
• An average of 855 visits daily
• 221 overdose interventions with no fatalities
• 3,383 clinical treatment interventions
• 5,268 referrals to other social and health services, the vast majority for detox and addiction treatment
• 458 admissions to the OnSite detox program