Canadian Supreme Court rules InSite may remain in operation!

What a wonderful surprise to wake up to this morning – the Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that the InSite supervised drug injection facility in Vancouver, BC, may remain open – permanently. To do so otherwise, would be depriving people of needed health care.

InSite, which opened in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) in 2003, is a facility where drug users can access clean needles, can be supervised by nurses, and are encouraged to access addiction recovery services if they so choose. The Conservative government has been pushing to have InSite shut down, claiming the facility violates Canada’s drug laws.

With this ruling, people facing drug addiction are guaranteed access to health care that is sorely needed. InSite also has the added benefit of reducing the transmission of infections via needle sharing among drug users, and reducing the amount of crime in the area. I am glad that the Supreme Court made the right decision today.

Read the story here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/09/29/bc-insite-supreme-court-ruling-advancer.html?cmp=rss