New Research Cites Numerous Benefits for Insite and Supports Accepted Scientific Analysis of Supervised Injection Facilities

B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

 

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, September 8, 2010 – The Canadian Medical Association Journal has published a new review of Insite that shows Vancouver’s supervised injecting facility reduces the harms of drug addiction, increases uptake into drug treatment and rehabilitation programs, and helps reduce adverse community impacts of addiction in various ways, such as decreasing used needles.

 

The findings cited in the CMAJ article are similar to those reported by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS based on its extensive peer-reviewed research of Insite.

 

The CMAJ article, published on August 30, 2010 and co-authored by Drs. Kathleen Dooling and Michael Rachlis, reviews the scientific research, public policies, and community actions related to the establishment and operation of Insite. It reinforces the extensive health and community benefits provided by Insite and slams the federal Conservative government for trying to close the public health facility.

 

“The article in the CMAJ by Drs. Dooling and Rachlis provides emphatic evidence that Insite offers significant benefits and saves lives,” said Dr. Julio Montaner, Director of the BC Centre Excellence in HIV/AIDS. “We fully endorse their call for the Conservative government to reverse its destructive course in trying to close Insite and instead accept the evidence-based research that supports supervised injecting sites.”

 

The article authors note that the Government of Canada has “consistently misrepresented scientific evidence on Insite to justify their opposition” to the facility. The federal government has based its efforts to close Insite on reports commissioned by the RCMP, even though the RCMP itself has acknowledged that it commissioned the reports to provide an “alternative analysis” of existing and positive supervised injection site research and that these reports did not meet conventional academic standards.

 

“The RCMP and the federal Conservatives used these misleading documents to reinforce their position that supervised injection sites do not provide the benefits that peer‐reviewed research from respected health organizations show they provide,” said Montaner. “Most concerning, the federal government continues to use this purchased, misleading research to call for the closure of Insite, even though shutting down Insite would have a devastating impact on people who use the facility.”

 

The complete text of their CMAJ article can be found here: http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100032.pdf