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Open in full screen mode In 2003, the first supervised injection center opened its doors in Vancouver. Radio-Canada Please note that this article published in 2018 may contain information that is no longer current. Feature trial Log inCreate my account Speech synthesis, based on artificial intelligence, makes it possible to generate spoken text from written text. On September 15, 2003, the City of Vancouver opened Insite, a supervised injection center for drug addicts, for the first time in North America. Our journalists covered the event and the struggles the center had to wage to ensure its existence. Guys, we made it, we made it! A quote from Dean Wilson, former heroin addict On September 15, 2003, Dean Wilson, a former drug addict, was practically in ecstasy. The City of Vancouver has just finalized a very daring project. Municipal authorities inaugurate Insite, a supervised injection center, an “injection” in popular parlance. The program is based on Hastings Street, in the Downtown Eastside, one of the most difficult neighborhoods in Canada, even in North America.
The journalist explains that the federal government has accepted an exception in the Canadian Criminal Code. The waiver gives the City of Vancouver the green light to create Insite.
What makes Dean Wilson happy is that Vancouver's drug addicts will be leaving the dark and dangerous alleys of the Downtown Eastside.
Insite, as its name indicates, allows you to inject drugs in a supervised center.
There, drug addicts have access to staff and medical care as well as clean syringes.
In January 2006, the Stephen Harper's Conservative Party takes power in Ottawa.
The Harper government quickly announces that it will not renew the exception in the Canadian Criminal Code accepted by the previous government.
This decision means that Insite will have to close its doors.
Supporters of the supervised injection center and the federal government face off all the way to the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
The Supreme Court of British Columbia indeed rules in favor of maintaining the opening of Insite.
Judge Pitfield, who wrote the decision, clarifies his thoughts. He argues that drug addicts should have access to specialized health care like that available to alcoholics and smokers.
In this context, the reasoning of the Court is unequivocal: closing the supervised injection center amounts to violating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms included in the Constitution of Canada.
The British Columbia Supreme Court also orders the federal government to amend the Narcotic Control Act to respect the Canadian Constitution.
The Harper government contests the judgment and takes it to the Supreme Court of Canada to try to have it invalidated.
On September 30, 2011, Dean Wilson once again raised his arms in victory.
The Supreme Court of Canada upholds the judgment of the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of Canada describes as contrary to the law and arbitrary the decision of the federal Minister of Health not to recognize the legitimacy of Insite. The Conservative government's position goes against the objectives of the law, which advocates the protection of public health and safety.
A quote from Frédéric Arnould
Journalist Frédéric Arnould presents to the Téléjournal of September 30, 2011, hosted by Pascale Nadeau, the details and reactions to the judgment.
Dean Wilson recalls that, without the existence of Insite, 72 addicts would have lost their lives.
The Vancouver Region Health Authority calculates that, since its opening, Insite has seen more than 3.6 million people pass through its walls who have gone there to inject drugs.< /p>
Nurses have responded to more than 6,000 overdose victims. No one died at Insite.
Supervised injection centers now exist in Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec.
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