No Surprise: Canada Still Beating Out The U.S. In Drug Use Legislation
Not only does Canada HAVE a what basically amounts to a legal shooting gallery, the country’s health ministry has voted to keep the facility, called Insite, open. Located in Vancouver, it’s the only place in North America that legally allows intravenous drug users to do what they do, and in public, no less.
Insite has 12 booths where people inject their drugs and a room for relaxing afterward where nurses keep watch and make sure that no one overdoses. The site also serves as a needle exchange, which is legal in some parts of the United States, providing clean needles, sanitized water, clean cotton balls and tourniquets.
Perhaps the most important part is the referrals to homeless shelters, detox centers and rehabilitation facilities that the nurses also provide. Addicts who need help know exactly where to go to get the help they need when they’re ready to quit. And that’s why the facility is allowed to be open: to conduct research as to whether or not the site reduces the area’s crime rate and drug use.
The results? So far, so good. Drug users who took advantage of the facility were more likely to go through detox, get on maintenance programs and decrease their use in general. Crime rates and drug arrests decreased as well as drug-related ER visits. The hope is that Insite will be allowed to remain open indefinitely and that more facilities like it will be opened in areas that need it.
Perhaps Mr. Bush could take a cue? If they started prescribing buprenorphine from these types of facilities, those who are used to injecting their drugs will switch to a maintenance program and eventually detox. Even more needle exchanges with referrals to detox and rehab centers would be a good start. When it comes to healthcare, why is Canada always so far ahead of us?
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