OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada is hearing arguments about Vancouver’s supervised injection site.
The top court will decide whether Insite is a health-care facility under provincial jurisdiction, and whether closing the site violates the rights of drug addicts living in one of Canada’s poorest neighbourhoods.
Supporters, including the B.C. government, point to a body of peer-reviewed studies that conclude Insite prevents overdose deaths, reduces the spread of HIV and hepatitis, and curbs crime and open drug use.
The federal government rejects that evidence, arguing the facility fosters addiction and runs counter to its tough-on-crime agenda.
Insite opened in 2003 after an epidemic rise in overdose deaths in Vancouver’s downtown eastside. It was the first supervised-injection site in North America.
It was allowed to operate after the Liberal government of the day granted the facility an exemption from federal drug laws.
In May 2008, following a B.C. court ruling in favour of the facility, then-health minister Tony Clement said the Conservative government wanted the facility shut down.
Lawyer Robert Frater, representing the federal government, told the court no decision has been made about whether to extend the exemption.
"There are statements by the minister of health that caused them to think it would not be extended," he said.
Frater argued drug control is a job that falls to Ottawa and not the provinces.
"The control of all drugs is … a matter of exclusive federal control," he said.
There have so far been 1.5 million visits to Insite, with the facility receiving between 700 and 800 visits each day. More than 12,000 people have registered to use the site, with the average user visiting 11 times a month.
The facility has 12 booths where addicts can inject drugs under the supervision of a nurse. There have been roughly 2,400 overdoses at Insite, but no deaths.
The facility is funded entirely by the B.C. government through Vancouver Coastal Health, with a budget of about $2.9 million a year.
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