Picture this: You're an injection drug user, and, you?re worried the next time you use, you might die. So, you head for the Shepherds of Good Hope, where there's a special trailer. There, you can use your drugs - and someone will save you if you overdose.
Upon arrival, though, there's a police cruiser outside. Apparently it's there a lot, at least according to Ottawa Inner City Health, which runs the injection site, and officers are questioning staff and clients.
And so you turn around. You take your chances injecting elsewhere, to avoid being harassed by police. Maybe you'll overdose and there will be nobody to save you. So it goes.
With between 130 and 170 people actually using the injection trailer daily, it's got to be asked: How many are not showing up because they're afraid of the police?
Since Ottawa's mayor and police chief had both been openly hostile toward the idea before recently softening their views, it's no surprise those tasked with enforcing the laws may not have, after years of hearing one thing, quite come 'round to the virtues of addicts having a safe environment in which to inject their drugs. (On Tuesday, the chief disputed this characterization of his position in a statement to the Citizen.)
