The organization running Vancouver’s safe injection site claims the public wants to see similar facilities across the country.
Mark Townsend of the Portland Hotel Society said Monday he doesn’t want Insite to become a “political football” after Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff announced plans to expand the program if elected.
“This isn’t about political parties,” he said. “The public wants to see things improved for the attics. People don’t want to see people shoot up drugs in parks, or business doorways or back gardens.”
Ignatieff announced a Liberal government would support provincial health authorities opening clinics providing needles to intravenous drug users free of charge.
“This is about harm reduction,” he said while campaigning in Thunder Bay, Ont. “As other provincial health systems want to adopt the valuable lessons learned at Insite, we would explore its expansion.”
Insite is the only government funded drug injection centre in the country. The Supreme Court of Canada will start a case next month that if won by the federal government would shut down the facility.
Follow Richard Zussman on Twitter: @richardzussman
