Insite

Hola Meanies,

"Insite" located in Vancouver, Canada (downtown) opened in 2003 providing a safe, health-focused place where people inject drugs and connect to health care services. Also primary care to treat disease and infection, addiction counselling and treatment. Insite is the first supervised legal injection site in North America. In 1990's many died from overdosed on drugs connecting to HIV. 90% the highest rate in Canada injected with HIV using dirty needles.

Insite has 12 booths with mirrors, supply needles, sterile water, tourniquets, cookers, filters , and alcohol swabs. They just don't supply the drugs. There are nurses that are there to help in any way such as help find a vein, help get the vein up , and attend to anyone who overdoses. In 2009 1,000 overdosed in Insite and none have died. Some ppl say that if they overdosed in the streets they definitely would of died. Anyone who goes to Insite are 70% less likely to share needles.

I think that's why "Insite" opened to get drug users to stop sharing needles. Two floors up is "Onsite", which is for detoxing and counseling. There are 12 beds for detox and withdrawal. After detoxing there is the third floor which provides transitional housing, community and addiction services that help with returning to the community.

I'm very lukewarm about this...ok I'm under lukewarm with this place. Yes they need to stop sharing needles but I thought the main concern was their health for them to survive and become sober. Obviously there are good results as to people going to the other services upstairs after overdosing downstairs. If they died in the streets no one would call the ambulance. Some feel that their better off dying but who are you to say if/when someone should die. Insite has been doing very good, overdosing in the streets have gone down, HIV through dirty needles have gone down, and since they have opened there has been a 30% increase in users. Even if they get high at Insite or not these people can get hands full of clean needles and everything they need just so they don't share needles.