[Flash Walken]

Economist Films: For 20 years The Economist has led calls for a rethink on drug prohibition. This film looks at new approaches to drugs policy, from Portugal to Colorado. “Drugs: War or Store?” kicks off our new “Global Compass” series, examining novel approaches to policy problems.

The opposite, of course, to our current federal government policy:

MONTREAL -- The federal justice minister says his government will uphold the country's drug laws in response to Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre's commitment to proceeding with safe injection sites with or without Ottawa's blessing.

The Conservative government is focused on treating drug addicts as opposed to making "more available access to often illegal drugs," Peter MacKay told reporters Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Coderre said the city will open supervised injection facilities -- where people can inject drugs without fear of arrest -- regardless of what Ottawa says about it.

Coderre said the project has been approved by city council and the provincial government. Montreal police have also been consulted.

The federal government must grant an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in order for a safe injection site to operate.

Quebec officially asked for the exemption at the beginning of May, but Ottawa has been publicly and strongly opposed to granting licences for facilities where people can inject drugs legally.

The only supervised injection facility in Canada is in Vancouver.

In 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that denying citizens access to safe injection sites was unconstitutional because it deprived people of potentially life-saving medical care.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/peter-m...ites-1.2407135

From a year ago:

“This is a big step forward,” Pivot lawyer Scott Bernstein said Friday, referring to a decision to approve access to heroin for at least 15 participants exiting a Vancouver study.

Pivot, which represents 22 study participants and the B.C. Association of People on Methadone, said the landmark decision will allow some of the most marginalized and addicted patients — who have not responded to other treatments such as methadone — to continue to receive proven treatment in a medical environment.

“The evidence out there demonstrates this is the appropriate treatment for people in this condition,” added Bernstein. “For our clients this is access to a life-saving treatment that helps them stabilize their lives, become healthy, and not have to engage in criminal activity to get the drug they’re dependent upon. It’s definitely a good thing.”

Bernstein said the decision was based on evidence rather than ideology and was made after doctors convinced Health Canada that heroin was the appropriate treatment.

The Study to Assess Long-term Opioid Maintenance Effectiveness (SALOME) began at the end of 2011 and is enrolling participants on a rolling basis for one year of research. Participants and advocates have been calling on the medical community to provide an “exit strategy” for the 322 participants in the three-year study.

But Health Minister Rona Ambrose said her department’s decision to provide heroin to certain addicts under the special access program — designed to allow patients in exceptional cases to get medications normally not allowed in Canada — is wrong and won’t happen again.

“This decision is in direct opposition to the government’s anti-drug policy and violates the spirit and intent of the special access program,” she said in a statement.

“I am taking immediate action to protect the integrity of the special access program and ensure this does not happen again.”

There are already safe treatments for heroin addiction, such as methadone, Ambrose argued.

“The special access program was designed to treat unusual cases and medical emergencies; it was not intended as a way to give illicit drugs to drug addicts.”

It was not clear from the statement whether Ambrose intends to override the decision or to simply take steps to prevent similar decisions in future.

The Harper government has taken a hard line on drugs. It strongly opposed the Insite supervised injection site — which marks its 10-year anniversary Saturday — and lost a long legal fight to close it.

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/H...877/story.html