Safe Injection Site a Good Thing... Duh?

Yesterday I heard something on the radio about a new study that was just published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal regarding our city's safe injection site (which opened in 2003 and is the country's one and only). It sounded interesting, so I started Googling.

According to News1130, The Globe and CBC, the study will conclude that the site has been an unqualified good thing for the city of Vancouver. It apparently hasn't led to an increase in crime as was feared; it has had a positive effect on our drug problem, inspiring many users to seek treatments for their addictions; and it appears to be slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS among city residents, or at least getting drug users to be safer about disease and infection.

Of course, each article then goes on to speculate about whether any of that will be enough to keep the site open, since Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn't want to continue to dole out federal cash to the project.

It makes you wonder. Does the study even matter?

Photo: psychiatric-disorders.com