Quite a lot of them, actually. A program in Vancouver, British Columbia called Insite that provides a venue for nurse-supervised injections of illegal, potentially dangerous drugs, has led to a 35-percent reduction in overdose fatalities in the two years after its opening. Notably, no overdoses occurred at the facility.“Research results clearly show facilities such as Insite could literally be the difference between life and death for many people,” says Dr. Thomas Kerr, an associate professor at UBC and co-director of the Urban Health Research Initiative, and also the senior author of a new study today in The Lancet.Insite was formed in 2003, responding to an explosion in HIV cases and an increase in overdose rates, and offers counselors on-site and referrals to addiction specialists. The legality of Insite’s been emphatically reassured by the BC Supreme Court, which said that the facility is ensuring a constitutional right to health via an essential health service.In the United States, however, we have no such constitutional right. And given the war on drugs and general old timey America freak-outs about needle exchange programs, it’s hard to imagine this south of the border. Just last month, the nutbar “crusaders” in the House attempted to attach a rider to its version of the budget that would have prohibited funding for needle exchange programs.Which is totally pro-life. Also worth mentioning is the Red Cross’ statement from a while back saying that treating addicts as criminals, and not patients, is killing not just addicts but other human beings as well. Most the world’s governments “are inclined to artificial realities, impervious to the evidence that treating people who inject drugs as criminals is a failed policy that contributes to the spread of HIV,” the organization said.Connected:
Reach this writer at michaelb@motherboard.tv.Image:Lucian Tidorescu
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