The first supervised heroin injection site in North America officially opened Monday in Vancouver. Organizers estimate that as many as 800 addicts a day will go to the site to shoot up instead of using back alleys, thus helping reduce overdose deaths as well as AIDS and hepatitis infections among injection drug users. Thirty-seven IDUs have died from overdose this year.

"It's going to make a large difference," said Mayor Larry Campbell. "This is a historic day for Vancouver and a turning point in our approach to dealing with addictions."

The facility is in Downtown Eastside, a poor Vancouver neighborhood with thousands of drug addicts. Campbell warned, "no one should expect the Downtown Eastside drug scene to change overnight. However, in combination with other prevention, treatment and policing efforts, we hope to reduce drug related deaths, and see injection drug users get the health care, treatment and support they need to live healthier lives," he said.

The storefront injection site is modeled after sites in approximately 50 cities in Europe and Australia. But for North America, which has traditionally regarded drug addiction as a law enforcement rather than a health issue, the facility is controversial. Canadian opposition politicians are watching the site closely. U.S. drug czar John Walters, on a trip to Vancouver earlier this year to speak out against Canada's drug policy, called the site "state-sponsored personal suicide."

Organized by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, the site's staff includes 16 nurses and several counselors who offer medical treatment, watch for overdose, and give advice about rehabilitation options. Addicts will have to bring their own drugs, which they still must purchase illegally.

The Canadian government approved the site in June, after an 18-month investigation, as part of a new national drug strategy. Funded by the federal and British Columbia provincial governments, the injection site is part of a three-year research and harm reduction trial.

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