Supervised injection sites save money and lives

Anew study about supervised injection sites has confirmed what The Vancouver Sun has been reporting since Insite opened its doors in the Downtown Eastside in 2003 — that such facilities make a positive contribution to the health care system.

Just how positive was spelled out in dollars and cents in an analysis conducted by researchers at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital.

They determined a single injection site in Canada’s largest metropolis would, over 20 years, save $42.7 million in health care costs due to a reduction in HIV and hepatitis C infections, and would incur $33.1 million in operating costs — a net saving of $9.6 million.

The estimate is conservative to a fault because it did not include the cost of dealing with overdoses or treatment for other types of infections passed on by dirty needles.

Nor did the study delve into the moral case for supervised injection sites, and arguably the more important reason for their existence: they prevent death. Our publicly funded health care system has an ethical duty to provide care to all its citizens, including drug addicts.

The latest study builds on research by Ehsan Jozaghi, a criminology PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University who graduated this past summer. He extrapolated the cost benefits of Insite to other cities and found they applied to every one examined, including Victoria, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and Saskatoon.

There are more than 30 peer-reviewed studies that show Insite saves lives and health care dollars, reduces disease transmission, and promotes entry into addiction treatment. Even the Supreme Court of Canada weighed in several years ago, when it ruled the federal government’s refusal to renew Insite’s exemption allowing it to operate was unconstitutional because it deprived people of potentially life-saving medical care.

Which brings us to an ideological hangover from the previous administration. Bill C-2 (a.k.a. The Respect for Communities Act), passed by the last parliament, imposed an onerous set of conditions — a government news release called them rigorous criteria — before the minister of health would consider an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to permit a supervised drug injection site, and even then only under exceptional circumstances.

The government made no secret of its intention to discourage future applications and to promulgate the message that drugs are bad.

We get that. Long-term heroin use can destroy mind and body.

But, as the Insite project has shown, addicts are more likely to seek treatment for their addictions if they have access to a supervised drug injection site.

Bill C-2 contains the word “illicit” 39 times and “health” 16 times, which points to its focus on criminalization rather than public health.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau campaigned on a promise of evidence-based policy and affirmed his support for an expansion of facilities such as Insite. The evidence is clear. It’s time to kill Bill C-2 and provide the life-saving public health service of supervised injection sites to all Canadians who need it.