The head of Vancouver’s Dr. Peter AIDS Centre, which also offers supervised injection services, responds to the Supreme Court’s ruling.
drug addiction
A triumph for Insite
During its eight years of operation, Insite has been proven to save lives with no discernible negative impact on the public safety and health objectives of Canada. The effect of denying the services of Insite to the population it serves and the correlative increase in the risk of death and disease to injection drug users is grossly disproportionate to any benefit that Canada might derive from presenting a uniform stance on the possession of narcotics.
- The Supreme Court of Canada, Sept. 30, 2011
Canadian groups welcome international report condemning failed 'War On Drugs'
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Evidence and human rights - not swelling prisons - are critical to sound drug policy, both here and abroad
June 2, 2011 -- We, the undersigned organizations, welcome today's release of a landmark report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy. It not only denounces the "war on drugs" as a failure but also puts forth a series of major recommendations for political leaders worldwide to adopt evidence- and rights-based approaches to drug policy.
Housing First: The best bet to end homelessness
This pilot program aims to address the mental health and addiction concerns of the homeless.
Related rabble.ca story:
Housing First: The best bet to end homelessness
From 2002 to 2008, the counted number of homeless in Metro Vancouver increased 137 per cent, from 1,121 to 2,660. What is equally important, from 30 to 50 per cent (with some estimating as high as 70 per cent) of the homeless population in Vancouver have mental health concerns. An unfortunate result of de-institutionalization is that the burden of mental healthcare has fallen on the police and general hospitals. To solve homelessness, we can't just build homes. We must also successfully address the mental health concerns of the homeless.
Toronto's struggle to secure a safe injection site
Toronto doesn't look likely to get a supervised injection facility anytime soon, even though numerous studies have shown such facilities to save lives as well as healthcare dollars.
Nearly a decade's worth of research on Vancouver's supervised injection facility InSite has shown it to lower the spread of HIV and decrease the incidence of overdose fatalities in the city's Downtown Eastside. Furthermore, drug injection in public spaces has become less common in the area and locals are now less likely to tread on discarded syringes while walking the streets.
Fractured health-care system sets scene for drug deaths
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Prescription opiate abuse now a public health crisis in Ontario
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