Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Insite Clinic Decision -- Early News

The British Columbia Supreme Court rendered its decision with respect to the Insite safe injection site yesterday, granting it an effective exemption from Canada's narcotic control laws. The immediate effect of this decision is to extent the life of the Insite Clinicuntil mid-2009, presumably until the Federal government can craft a Charter compliant law governing such facilities.

While the decision is not yet available online, the word is that the Court decided the case on the basis of s. 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms ("life, liberty and security of the person") and accepted the logic that drug addiction is a medical problem and that providing a safe, clinical environment in which to manage the problem is an important aspect of delivering appropriate medical care.

This will undoubtedly be appealed.

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1 comment:

Unknown said...

Yes, the Harper Tories will craft a new law, undoubtedly. Stephen Harper has taken a page out of Ronald Reagan's book and declared a war on drugs. Because that strategy has worked SO well in the United States. The demand for drugs has pretty much dried up down there.