Tuesday, May 27, 2008

BC Supreme Court to Harper - Back Off!


"I cannot agree with the Canada's submission that an addict must feed his addiction in an unsafe environment when a safe environment that may lead to rehabilitation is the alternative."


With that finding, BC Supreme Court judge Ian Pitfield ruled it would be unconsitutional for the Harper cryptos to shut down Vancouver's safe injection site.

"Society cannot condone addiction, but in the face of its presence it cannot fail to manage it, hopefully with ultimate success reflected in the cure of the addicted individual and abstinence," says the ruling.
It says that certain sections of the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act are inconsistent with section 7 of the Charter and are of no force and effect.

Pitfield's ruling says denial of access to the site "amounts to a condemnation of the consumption that led to addiction in the first place, while ignoring the resulting illness.

"While there is nothing to be said in favour of the injection of controlled substances that leads to addiction, there is much to be said against denying addicts health care services that will ameliorate the effects of their condition,'' he wrote.

Federal health minister Tony Clement, shown above, was unavailable for comment or at least that's what it sounded like he was trying to say.

2 comments:

RossK said...

Clearly all that lobbying from John Reynolds for Smilin' Sammy's experimental 'alternative' has not yet paid off.

.

Anonymous said...

This is going to open up a whole can of worms for this government. This ruling will also affect the marijuana compassion clubs that deal to sick people who don't want to buy the horrible government schwag.