Preamble

WHEREAS research in the mid 1990s within the Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS indicated that an epidemic of HIV/AIDS within the population of drug addicted persons was imminent;

AND WHEREAS during that period a regional Health Authority declared that overdose deaths within the community had reached epidemic proportions;

AND WHEREAS injection drug use is a significant public health care issue in British Columbia;

AND WHEREAS there presently exist epidemic rates of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and other infectious diseases among injection drug users in British Columbia;

AND WHEREAS the establishment of a supervised injection facility is a legitimate part of a response to a public health emergency identified by a regional Health Authority;

THEREFORE HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Definitions

1  In this Act:

"supervised injection facility" means a facility that provides medical care and treatment to, and all matters necessarily incidental to the effective medical treatment of, people who self-administer intravenous drugs.

Guiding principles

2  (1) The purpose of establishing a supervised injection facility is to provide a controlled health care setting where drug users inject drugs under the supervision of nurses or paramedical staff and receive basic health care, counselling, and referral to primary health care and social services and treatment.

(2) The goals of a supervised injection facility are to reduce the harms associated with injection drug use and to actively promote the physical and mental health of injection drug users.

(3) In furtherance of its goals, a supervised injection facility is to maintain a welcoming, safe and supportive environment and provide support and services to all participants in a non-discriminatory manner.

Establishment of supervised injection facility

3  (1) A regional health board designated under the Health Authorities Act may establish a supervised injection facility as part of its continuum of care for people with addiction, mental illness and HIV/AIDS.

(2) Without restricting the definition of "supervised injection facility" and for greater certainty, services necessarily incidental to the medical care and treatment provided by a supervised injection facility include:

(a) needle exchange;

(b) provision of clean injection equipment;

(c) provision of sterile, personal-use booths for injection purposes;

(d) overdose intervention, including administration of oxygen, administration of Naloxone (Narcan), artificial respiration, cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, treatment for anaphylaxis, and follow-up with 911 / emergency health services;

(e) harm reduction education, including the provision of information on the correct use of injection equipment, infection prevention, vein maintenance and overdose prevention;

(f) safe disposal of used injection equipment.

Self-administration necessarily incidental to supervised injection facility

4  Self-administration of intravenous drugs under medical or paramedical supervision within a supervised injection facility is necessarily incidental to the medical care and treatment provided at a supervised injection facility.

Power to make regulations

5  (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations referred to in section 42 of the Interpretation Act.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations as follows:

(a) respecting any matter considered necessary or advisable to carry out effectively the establishment of supervised injection facilities as part of a regional health board's continuum of care for people with addiction, mental illness and HIV/AIDS.

Commencement

6  This Act comes into force on the date of Royal Assent and is retroactive to June 1, 2003.

 
Explanatory Note

This enactment provides for the designation of InSite, the supervised injection facility operated by Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, as a health facility.

InSite is an integral part of Vancouver Coastal Health Authority's continuum of care for people with addiction, mental illness and HIV/AIDS. InSite was established in part as a response to the public health emergency declared in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside community. More than 24 published scientific research papers have shown the success of the facility. InSite provides an essential health service for hundreds of the city's most vulnerable residents and operates with the support of the municipal and provincial governments and the British Columbia Nurses Union.

This enactment affirms that the medical care and treatment provided at InSite, as well as all matters necessarily incidental to the effective medical care and treatment of individuals at InSite is supported under provincial health legislation and is in accordance with the Province's exclusive jurisdiction under subsections 92 (7), (13) and (16) of the Constitution Act, 1867.