Needles for Social Justice

Just weeks before Vancouver's Safe Injection Facility is required to renew its permit advocates of its controversial services are seeking to humanize addiction in order draw attention to the complex issues at work in Vancouver's downtown eastside community. Whether or not you agree that Vancouver's SIF is an important moral project, you can't deny that it has largely succeeded in preventing the loss of life and reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, these accomplishments are secondary to SIF's larger mission of social justice and the “medicalization of addiction.” It seems reasonable to suggest that the social stigma faced by many drug addicts today stems from the illegal status of drugs in Canadian society, and in order for Vancouver's SIF to achieve its goal of legitimatization the legalization and public control of drugs must first occur.

The reality is we are all addicted to something – be it cigarettes, food, alcohol, sex, television, exercise or whatever – so why is drug addiction so different? While we often fail to draw parallels between addiction to drugs and addiction to other substances or activities, it is important to consider why. Medically, the driving forces behind addictions are same but the manifestation of these problems continues to be addressed in entirely different ways. The SIF hope to address drug addiction without the stigma attached to their use but will continue to face political barriers as long as these substances remain illegal.

With licensing up for renewal this April, Prime Minister Harper is faced with the challenge of reconciling a widely supported and publicly funded program with the legal reality of its function. Despite the cache of peer reviewed, independent scholarly research conducted on the affects of the SIF on mortality, the spread of infectious disease or the reduction of public drug-use, the morality of backing illegal activity forces us to reconsider our national policies and approaches. Because clearly healthcare, economic and social research affects are there; SIF is having a positive affect in this Vancouver community and for Vancouver as a whole, but until the underlying issue of promoting illegal behaviour and activities is addressed, the morality of addiction becomes secondary to its stigmatization.