Science, not politics must decide fate of safe injection site

[E-llusion]

A group of 130 prominent doctors, scientists and public health professionals is calling on the federal government to use scientific evidence, not political ideology, when deciding whether to extend the life of Vancouver's safe injection site.

The group has endorsed a strongly worded commentary on the issue published by Open Medicine, an online medical journal.

In the commentary, Dr. Stephen Hwang says that if government refuses to accept the scientific evidence backing the Insite program it should be transparent about the basis for its objections.

Dr. Hwang says the health of the nation is placed in peril if leaders ignore crucial research findings simply because they run counter to a policy agenda driven by ideology or fixed beliefs.

Dr. Hwang, a researcher in the Centre for Research on Inner City Health at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital, says the federal government seems to be judging the safe injection site program by an entirely different standard than it would other health measures.

An exemption that allows the safe injection site to operate expires at the end of this year.

Signatories to the commentary include Dr. Robert Brunham, head of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control; Dr. Richard Lessard, Montreal's director of public health; and leading HIV-AIDS researcher Dr. Mark Wainberg.

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Canadian Press

August 21, 2007 at 12:06 PM EDT

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070821.winsite0821/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/

 

[9mmCensor]

awesome. lets see how Harper the Douche handles this one.

 

[hussness]

Very interesting...It's good to know that educated people in foreign countries have some hope that the politics of science might have something to do with science.

 

[fastandbulbous]

When they introduced needle exchanges in Edinburgh, the rate of new cases of HIV in drug users dropped dramatically. You don't have to be a genius to see the link between the two & the benefit to public health in general. Which is just as well as nobody's ever accused politicians of having a higher than average percentage of geniuses among them!

 

[clamjuice]

It really is great that we have had the center available in this country. Lets just hope that we get to keep it and have some leadership and rationality when it comes to curbing drug abuse.

 

[drunken_etard]

I have scene ppl who share needles but there not normal in anyway(2 dirty ass street punks). As a rule of thumb its fairly uncommon for anyone to share a needle here in Ontario

 

[mepat1111]

Here in Canberra (Australia) you can get injection kits with multiple needles and everything you need for injection for $2 at a vending machine. Or you can go to the needle exchange type thingo and it's free. It's one of the best harm reduction schemes I've seen or heard of.

Long live Harm Reduction!

 

[bromance]

God damn the US needs to get with the times.

 

[atri]

as long as we start giving out needles to anyone that needs them for free, like diabetes patients, im all for it.

 

[Mussoman_Beast]

http://www.euro.who.int/HEN/Syntheses/hepatitisC/20050411_19

A while ago I was looking this up for a uni project. This isn't the exact article I found, but the idea is the same. They basically said that NOT providing needle exchange is an irresponsible use of taxpayer's money, due to the massively increased costs in providing healthcare to those infected by sharing needles.

 

[Broshious]

They just need to make purchasing needles legal. That'd fix everything.

 

[seiko420]

I thought they were legal is most places. Just a few states have some laws.

 

[Broshious]

I thought they were legal is most places. Just a few states have some laws.

Oh, I don't really know much about needles. If they're not illegal why the fuck do we need to be handing them out?

 

[paranoid android]

Oh, I don't really know much about needles. If they're not illegal why the fuck do we need to be handing them out?

Well i don't know about in any other country or any other part of canada but where i live on the east coast pharmacists can be pretty goddamn snotty about this kind of stuff. Like that cunt who refused to sell me aspirin with codeine based on pharmacists discretion.

You will hit pharmacists like this who will refuse to sell you needles especially if the pharmacy in question has been knocked off about 20 times in the past few months. But generally they will sell you needles. In my experience pharmacists in really big chain stores (especially that big evil one that owns half the world) don't really give a fuck about anything. Hell ive gotten scripts for controlled substances for other people and i never even got checked for any ID. And vice versa.

Also some addicts can't afford needles after they have picked up their dope. Needle exchanges are also a good way for addicts to dispose of dirty needles.

I wouldnt be suprised at all if that harper tried to do away with this program. He's not known for having any brain cells so why would he do something smart now.

 

[Broshious]

Well i don't know about in any other country or any other part of canada but where i live on the east coast pharmacists can be pretty goddamn snotty about this kind of stuff. Like that cunt who refused to sell me aspirin with codeine based on pharmacists discretion.

You will hit pharmacists like this who will refuse to sell you needles especially if the pharmacy in question has been knocked off about 20 times in the past few months. But generally they will sell you needles. In my experience pharmacists in really big chain stores (especially that big evil one that owns half the world) don't really give a fuck about anything. Hell ive gotten scripts for controlled substances for other people and i never even got checked for any ID. And vice versa.

Also some addicts can't afford needles after they have picked up their dope. Needle exchanges are also a good way for addicts to dispose of dirty needles.

I wouldnt be suprised at all if that harper tried to do away with this program. He's not known for having any brain cells so why would he do something smart now.

I'm all for doing away with the program provided needles can be bought. If you can afford to buy heroin, you can afford the damn needle. I refuse to pay for it.

 

[VerbalTruist]

^Needle exchanges are absolutely necessary in the US. Homeless drug addicts will spend every penny on heroin... Broshious you have no fucking clue what you're talking about.

 

[Broshious]

^Needle exchanges are absolutely necessary in the US. Homeless drug addicts will spend every penny on heroin... Broshious you have no fucking clue what you're talking about.

If they spend every penny on heroin, but are not smart enough to save a little for needles, why should I be buying them needles? In a way I am basically buying them a little more heroin as the money they would've used to buy needles instead goes to heroin.

 

[9mmCensor]

If they spend every penny on heroin, but are not smart enough to save a little for needles, why should I be buying them needles? In a way I am basically buying them a little more heroin as the money they would've used to buy needles instead goes to heroin.

If Bob the addict has 10 dollars, and thats how much a bag of dope costs, hes gonna buy the dope, and not say "oh I better go find another 2 dollars so I can buy needles too" nor is he gonna say "oh not enough money for needles and dope, I will just wait till tommorow".

addiction is desperation for that fix. old dirty, shared needles are usable when your hurting enough for the drug you need.

its not that people aren't smart enough, its that they are desperate, addiction controls them.

 

[donkeyPUNCH]

If Bob the addict has 10 dollars, and thats how much a bag of dope costs, hes gonna buy the dope, and not say "oh I better go find another 2 dollars so I can buy needles too" nor is he gonna say "oh not enough money for needles and dope, I will just wait till tommorow".

addiction is desperation for that fix. old dirty, shared needles are usable when your hurting enough for the drug you need.

its not that people aren't smart enough, its that they are desperate, addiction controls them.

QFT

 

[9mmCensor]

QFT

I find it impressive that a sheltered small town boy thats never seen dope let alone do it can grasp the concept that preventing humans from hurting themselves and spreading the hurt through their own communities could be a bad thing.

And with socialist health care in Canada, prevention of harm is very cost effective.
Giving people needles to stop the spread of disease and reduce self injury will only lesson the impact of addicts on the health care system.