Safe-injection site mounts constitutional challenge

The operators of Canada's only supervised safe-injection site are launching a constitutional challenge they hope will bolster their ability to continue operating the controversial facility in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users and the Portland Hotel Society, which operate the site, are scheduled to appear in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Monday morning.

"This case is about whether the federal government has the power to impose jail time for the use or operation of that health service," said Ryan Dalziel, counsel for the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which has intervener status in the case.

The federal Conservative government has allowed the clinic to operate under an exemption to the Narcotics Control Act, but Health Minister Tony Clement has refused to make the exemption permanent.

Clement has granted two temporary extensions to the permit, the latest of which expires at the end of June.

Supporters of Insite hope the court case will test the federal government's power to close the facility.

Coast Health, the local health authority that oversees the operation and provides funding for the facility, is not directly involved in the legal challenge.

The facility in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood was the first legal supervised drug injection site in North America designed to help drug addicts get their fixes safely and cleanly, with nurses providing clean syringes and keeping watch for overdoses.

Injection drug users bring their own drugs to the site, but can receive referrals to drug detox and rehabilitation services at the facility.

Supporters of Insite say there is considerable scientific evidence it decreases harm associated with drug addiction in the community, but the Conservative government has questioned its effectiveness.