Government in Canada should continue to fund and support supervised Research Paper

Government in Canada should continue to fund and support supervised drug-injection sites - Research Paper Example Public has gained awareness regarding the treatment and safe use of the drugs (RCMP, 1969). Patients of these facilities are called â€Å"off the street† users hence decreasing public use. Patients here are forced to use sterilized syringes therefore minimizing the danger of spread of disease from one addict to another. Another benefit from this facility is that they allow their users to enter into a Detox program. The facility prevents patient frm overdosing and even if they do they are under supervision and good health care. (RCMP, 1969) Vancouver’s Insite was the first supervised injection sites in North America. It was set up in 2003 to serve the injection drug users in large number. They serve by providing sterilized needles and a hygienic place for the drug addicts to use hard drugs. The room in Insite consists of 12 booths where nurses assist you to find vein and inject properly under medical supervision. Nurses further help patients to filter drugs so that they can avoid overdoses. They provide health facilities to the homeless and sufferers.400 overdoses have been reported in the clinic but none died. Counselors are present to help patients who want to change their lives. Vancouver’s Insite has 275,000 visitors yearly costing federal government around $500,000 in addition to budget allocated provincially. (Anthony, 2006) The Canadian Expert Advisory Committee in 2008 evaluation of Insite concluded that each year 108 lives are saved by the facility. Drug Free Australia declares that the European Monitoring Centre EMCDDA technique, applied with Canadian assumptions and data give way to the same findings. Canadian heroin deaths in 2002-3 was almost the same as Australia’s (958 fatality from over 80,000 marginalized heroin users) and death percentages for 2006-07, according to Drug Free Australia has been changed drastically. Furthermore, Expert Advisory Committee assumes that a typical Canadian heroin addict injects 4 times in a day so 100 Canadian heroin addicts would collectively inject 146,000 times in a year. Insite would turn away the fatality of the one injection in 146,000 injections which would most likely be fatal. (Popova, 2006) Insite was given a constitutional exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in 2003, by the liberal Government permitting the customers and the wor kers to stay away from criminal offenses while working at or availing the facility. Health Canada provided financial support to the program evaluating it as a pilot scheme in harm reduction. This exemption expired in 2008 where the conservative government refused to extend the exemption from the act. Health Minister Tony Clement argued that the safe injection sites are diversions from treatment. (Anthony, 2006) The Supreme Court in September 2011 announced that Vancouver's Insite can stay open. The court stated that it would be a violation to the Charter of Right and Freedom if they don’t allow the Insite clinics to operate. Order was passed for the Federal Minister of health to grant an exemption from Controlled Drugs and Substances Act immediately. The Supreme Court was convinced by proof that drug addicts are significantly