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Federal Lawyer Asks Court for Full Trial in Vancouver's Safe Injection Site Case

Posted on: Monday, 28 April 2008, 21:00 CDT

By Camille Bains, THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER - A federal lawyer told a B.C. Supreme Court hearing Monday the loaded medical and constitutional issues surrounding Vancouver's safe injection site are so complex that a full trial is needed to deal with them.

John Hunter said the 10 days set aside for a summary trial will permit only affidavits from experts whose evidence can't be cross-examined.

"This is not a simple case," Hunter said.

He said broad societal implications are involved in the operation of the controversial facility that proponents say is a medical necessity while opponents view it as fostering drug addiction.

Hunter said only a full trial will allow questions to be aired about whether addicts have a constitutional right to access the site, called Insite.

Lawyers for the Portland Hotel Society, which co-manages Insite, and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users say the facility provides health services that are under the jurisdiction of the British Columbia government, which pays for them.

Insite is North America's only such facility and allows people to inject illegal drugs including cocaine and heroin with clean needles under the supervision of a nurse.

Studies published in several top medical journals have suggested Insite reduces the incidence of infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C and also has reduced drug-use related public disorder in Vancouver's infamous Downtown Eastside.

The federal government allowed Insite to open almost five years ago as a pilot project, but it can operate only with exemption from Canada's drug laws and the exemption expires June 30.

The exemption date has already been renewed twice while Ottawa decides its fate.

But on Monday, as Ottawa announced it will spend over $3 million on anti-drug TV ads, federal Health Minister Tony Clement said no decision has been made on whether Insite will be allowed to remain open indefinitely.

"That's a decision that has to be made by the 30th of June," Clement said. "We're not making that decision today."

Hunter said there are contentious views between various doctors who deal with drug addiction.

"This is a complex, scientific and medical case that should be heard in a regular trial," Hunter said, adding the entire issue amounts to a public policy debate.

He noted that an affidavit from Dr. Frank Evans, the past president of the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine, said Insite doesn't treat addicts because that would require taking their medical history and putting some kind of treatment plan in place.

Instead, Hunter said, most people go into the injection room to simply shoot up before walking out the door.

"We say that injection of those drugs is not a medical use of those drugs, it's a personal use of those drugs," he said.

"The sweeping statement that Insite is a health-care service is controversial."

He said Evans disagrees with the views of Dr. David Marsh, the current president of the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine, who believes drugs alter the brain structure so addicts are compelled to use more drugs.

Lawyer Monique Pongracic-Speier, who represents the Portland Hotel Society, told Justice Ian Pitfield the federal government could have made an application to cross-examine witnesses during a summary trial but hasn't done so.

Pitfield said he was surprised lawyers for the Attorney General's Department didn't choose that route.

"That one hit me right between the eyes," Pitfield said.

He decided he'll hear the summary proceedings before deciding if the case should be put to a full trial.

Pongracic-Speier said Insite's role is to improve drug addicts' health and that under the Constitution, they have the right to "life and security of the person."

"There are no conflicts arising from the bulk of this evidence and that includes the scientific and medical evidence," she said, adding anything that could be contentious is minimal.

Pongracic-Speier read the affidavits of two long-time drug users who credit Insite for providing a healthy place for them to use instead of the alleys and hotel rooms where they could overdose.

She said Dean Wilson, 51, has been an addict for 38 years and was the first person to use Insite, which he regards as a critical harm-reduction facility that has given him dignity during his "deeply entrenched addiction."

Pongracic-Speier said Wilson, who contracted hepatitis C from drug use, has participated in 25 treatment programs but doesn't see himself kicking the heroin habit that has almost killed him three times.

Earlier this month, an expert advisory committee report to the federal government indicated drug injections at Insite account for less than five per cent of all injections in the Downtown Eastside.

But Pongracic-Speier said that's a significant achievement for a marginalized group of people who don't usually access health care.

"This expert advisory committee isn't raising a big flag," she said.

Pongracic-Speier also said a full trial would be too time consuming and expensive for her clients, who run a not-for-profit society.

She said the Portland Hotel Society is operating in a state of limbo because it can't do any future planning for Insite without knowing whether it will be allowed to remain open.

Source: Canadian Press

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