Police in Vancouver say they plan to start arresting drug addicts who shoot up in public, an uncontroversial idea in some cities but not in Vancouver. The police say they want to get drug use out of the streets and doorways of the Downtown Eastside and into the city’s supervised injection site. Dr. Anita Palepu, who treats drug users from Vancouver’s streets, says addicts going through withdrawal can’t wait in lineups at the site and she fears the crackdown will prevent them from being treated for communicable diseases.
It is worth reading up on Toronto’s plans for a safe-injection sites: here, here and here.
