Blue_Nose Blue_Nose:
Ah, I forgot all about the "ringing bell for the rest of the community" standard for determining who should have access to health facilities.
We could just arrest anybody who goes in there and toss them in jail...they are still committing crimes, no?
I mean, let's look at that list.
"Insite is leading to increased uptake into detoxification programs and addiction treatment. (New England Journal of Medicine)"
A few more people are trying to get clean, excellent. Always a good thing.
"Insite has not led to an increase in drug-related crime, rates of arrest for drug trafficking, assaults and robbery were similar after the facility’s opening, and rates of vehicle break-ins/theft declined significantly. (Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy)"
So outside for car theft, which can be completely unrelated, it has had no effect on public safety? That's a positive endorsement?
"Insite has reduced the number of people injecting in public and the amount of injection-related litter in the downtown eastside. (Canadian Medical Association Journal)"
So is this why you use this one to help support your argument? Because it elicits the sympathies of the average poster. I'll admit, that most people don't. That I honestly don't care if a heroin addict dies from an overdose. Heartless sure, but I'm alot more sympathetic to a child getting HIV because some heroin addict left a needle in a playground.
Of course, I'm sure I will get flak for that, but as much as alot of you might get some "holier than thou" attitude, its the truth, and I'm sure alot more people will care about the wellbeing of a 2 year old than a heroin addict.
"Insite has reduced overall rates of needle sharing in the community, and among those who used the supervised injection site for some, most or all of their injections, 70% were less likely to report syringe sharing."
To be honest, that should be 100% since its FREE. But whatever, its nice knowing that they're able to slowly kill themselves from heroin addiction instead of AIDS or a much faster death of ODing.
"Insite is attracting the highest-risk users – those more likely to be vulnerable to HIV infection and overdose, and who were contributing to problems of public drug use and unsafe syringe disposal."
Which is nice and all, but are those highest risk users still committing crimes to support the purchasing of heroin? I'll bet you....yes, since it seems that crime rates haven't changed, except for car theft, which has no real link between the two.
"Nearly one-third of Insite users received information relating to safer injecting practices. Those who received help injecting from fellow injection drug users on the streets were more than twice as likely to have received safer injecting education at Insite."
We're TEACHING them how to inject? The hell? If they're there...why not 100%? I mean, they're using our needles and our facility...can't they just be forced to listen to a recording or have some pamphlet to read how to safely inject?
"Insite is not increasing rates of relapse among former drug users, nor is it a negative influence on those seeking to stop drug use."
That is not a ringing endorsement either. At all. Actually its saying that it's doing NOTHING.
--
So looking at all the facts. I see the only positive event for the taxpayers in this country and in that city is that....they're less needles along the street, and are more people going into detox. That's it. The average Canadian has little sympathy for heroin addicts. So we're paying what a private charity could do instead.
I'm sure a good number of you will call me evil or hateful or something else. Oooh a redneck or a Canakkkian or whoever Burns stated it as, guess what? You're wrong. I'm not hateful, I just don't care about the welfare of those who are committing a crime and causing damage to the community, just as much as I wouldn't have sympathy for a pedophile or a gangster. The facts are, according to that, is that less children are finding needles, and to me, that's its biggest factor for it.
Oh and RomanP, don't be a hypocrite, you did the same thing with uranium mines.