Some had tears in their eyes, some clapped, and others hugged each other with joy when the news was announced Friday morning that Vancouver’s supervised injection site will remain open.
The Supreme Court ruling stated that closing it would violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The decision ends a legal battle over whether federal attempts to close the safe injection site infringes on the charter rights of addicts under section seven: the right to life, liberty and security of the person.
Monique Pongracic-Speier, a lawyer with Ethos Law Group, said there were two arguments surrounding this ruling: whether this service is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the province and therefore the federal government does not have a role to play, and if they do have a role, whether it would be unconstitutional to close it down. Now that Insite has won this decision it is still up to the Minister of Health to decide about other safe injection sites on a case-by-case basis. This decision just concerns Insite.
However, that is not stopping supporters from expressing joy at the decision.
PHS Community Services Society is just one of the groups supporting the ruling to keep Insite open. “We are very grateful for this verdict,” said executive director Liz Evans. “We want to say thank you to the Court, to the premier of this province, to the mayors, to every one who has supported InSite. We hope now we can all move forward towards comprehensive, made-in-Canada, drug policy that is includes detox, treatment and initiatives like InSite.”
She said the ruling means that after eight years of being subjected to various rulings and requests, Insite is now safe. “This is a legitimate health care service,” she said, adding that it is a constitutional right for a drug user to have access to a place where they can use safely.
Health Minister Mike de Jong said “This decision by the Supreme Court of Canada represents a wise and humane ruling by a unanimous bench. Conclusive research studies have shown that addiction is a medical condition. Scientific evidence continually proves that Insite saves lives, is a health benefit and poses no risk to the public.”
“Today’s ruling will allow the doctors, nurses and staff at Insite to continue to deliver care in a safe environment with a stable future,” he added.
The Canadian Public Health Association also stands behind the decision, saying this program is essential in addressing the health needs of drug users. “Addiction-related drug use is a health issue and not a criminal justice issue,” said Debra Lynkowski, CPHA’s CEO. “This decision is an important step in promoting and protecting both individual rights to life, liberty and security of the person and the health and security of the broader public.”
Insite is currently operating under the jurisdiction of the B.C. government and enjoys an exemption from the Criminal Code.
The legal battle was prompted by the Conservative government’s decision to end in 2008 the exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that Insite enjoyed.
The exemption protected Insite staff and drug users from being arrested while using or supervising the use of illicit drugs.
The Supreme Court has now ruled the Minister’s refusal to renew the exemption threatens the health and lives of drug users and must be reversed indefinitely.
“…The potential denial of health services and the correlative increase in the risk of death and disease to injection drug users outweigh any benefit that might be derived from maintaining an absolute prohibition on possession of illegal drugs on Insite’s premises,” according to the court decision.
“It’s that what we said was right and what we were doing was right,” said Dean Wilson, one of the plaintiff’s in the case and the first person to ever use Insite.
“Even if they had not agreed with me today, every year eight people are alive because of that place.”
The court decision opens the door for safe injection sites to open in other Canadian communities, but Wilson, a heroin addict who has been clean for two years, says opening a site has to make sense.
“I’m not advocating them being popped up any old where,” he said. “But I don’t think ideology should prevent it.”
Wilson says the city, local police and health care workers all need to be onside before a place like Insite can work.
The centre – situated in the heart of Canada’s poorest neighbourhood – opened its doors in 2003 in efforts to curb skyrocketing rates of overdose deaths in the drug-riddled community.
It is North America’s first legal supervised injection site and is staffed by nurses and offers drug users a safe place to shoot up, as well as access to addiction counseling, treatment and housing support.
Since opening, Insite has rallied the support of its community, the provincial government, the city’s current mayor Gregor Robertson and the medical community.
A study released earlier this year and published in the prominent medical journal The Lancet found that fatalities from drug overdoses have dropped 35 per cent.
The Conservative government wants to shut Insite’s doors, saying it fosters addiction and enables criminal activity. They have moved to end the Criminal Code exemption.
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