Majority of Canadians support safe-injection sites

Ipsos Reid poll shows 55% of Canadians think centres like Insite 'a good idea'

by Tobin Dalrymple [Excerpted], Canwest News Service

Most Canadians say it's "a good thing" heroin addicts in Vancouver have a safe, legal place to shoot up, according to a poll conducted this week for Canwest News Service and Global National.

An Ipsos Reid poll made public yesterday found that 55 per cent of Canadians say the Downtown Eastside centre Insite is "a good thing" and 54 per cent say it should remain exempt from the country's drug laws, despite a Conservative government appeal to shut it down.

"I think this actually offers the government an opportunity to decide whether it wants to present itself as a law-and-order government vs. a compassionate, sensitive government," said John Wright, Ipsos Reid senior vice-president. "It's a tricky issue for them - it's not an overwhelming majority (of Canadian support) and it is fraught with contradictions."

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