This is from Dr. Neil Boyd SFUProfessor Neil Boyd, a criminologist at Vancouver's Simon Fraser University, told CTV's Canada AM on Monday that Insite, the five-year-old safe-injection site, has not had a negative impact on its community.
"We looked at crime rates in the area surrounding Insite, and we talked to business operators, we talked to service providers, to police, to residents in the surrounding vicinity. We found, overwhelmingly, people had very positive sentiments," Boyd said.
"Not only that, crime rates were quite unaffected by the implementation of Insite...In fact, we found some improvements in public order with respect to decreased injection debris, decreased injections around the site and those findings simply corroborated other research that had been carried out prior to our study."
Boyd was commissioned last year by the federal government to study Insite's impact on crime rates in Vancouver's downtown east side.
Insite, believed to be North America's only supervised injection site, opened in 2003. It allows people to inject illegal drugs, including heroin and cocaine, under a nurse's supervision.
It was able to open after it was granted a federal exemption from Canada's drug laws, which runs out at the end of June.
More than 25 studies, published in some of the leading medical journals, have shown that it keeps health-care and law-enforcement budgets down while minimizing harm to addicts.
"I don't think there's much doubt anymore," Boyd said.
"We have to move to close this chapter and give Insite a long-standing exemption."
The research also showed:
For every $1 spent on Insite, up to $4 of taxpayers' money is saved.
The risk of contracting hepatitis C or HIV decreases as needle sharing is curbed.
The use of detoxification services increases as Insite users are encouraged to seek treatment and counselling.
Lives have been saved as Insite staff have been able to intervene during overdose events.
Health Minister Tony Clement is expected to decide whether or not to extend Insite's exemption near the June 30 deadline.
"I would urge Tony Clement to look carefully at the evidence, and I think if he does, he'll come to the conclusion that this isn't about enabling drug users. This is about helping a disadvantaged, very compromised population," Boyd said.
"We looked at crime rates in the area surrounding Insite, and we talked to business operators, we talked to service providers, to police, to residents in the surrounding vicinity. We found, overwhelmingly, people had very positive sentiments," Boyd said.
"Not only that, crime rates were quite unaffected by the implementation of Insite...In fact, we found some improvements in public order with respect to decreased injection debris, decreased injections around the site and those findings simply corroborated other research that had been carried out prior to our study."
Boyd was commissioned last year by the federal government to study Insite's impact on crime rates in Vancouver's downtown east side.
Insite, believed to be North America's only supervised injection site, opened in 2003. It allows people to inject illegal drugs, including heroin and cocaine, under a nurse's supervision.
It was able to open after it was granted a federal exemption from Canada's drug laws, which runs out at the end of June.
More than 25 studies, published in some of the leading medical journals, have shown that it keeps health-care and law-enforcement budgets down while minimizing harm to addicts.
"I don't think there's much doubt anymore," Boyd said.
"We have to move to close this chapter and give Insite a long-standing exemption."
The research also showed:
For every $1 spent on Insite, up to $4 of taxpayers' money is saved.
The risk of contracting hepatitis C or HIV decreases as needle sharing is curbed.
The use of detoxification services increases as Insite users are encouraged to seek treatment and counselling.
Lives have been saved as Insite staff have been able to intervene during overdose events.
Health Minister Tony Clement is expected to decide whether or not to extend Insite's exemption near the June 30 deadline.
"I would urge Tony Clement to look carefully at the evidence, and I think if he does, he'll come to the conclusion that this isn't about enabling drug users. This is about helping a disadvantaged, very compromised population," Boyd said.
