Court decision on drug-injection clinic divides people of faith
VANCOUVER, BC - The Supreme Court of Canada's unanimous decision to allow Insite, a clinic where heroin addicts can inject themselves under medical supervision, to stay open has done nothing to bridge the gulf between people of faith who see it as a way of saving lives and those who believe all it does is keep addicts trapped in their addictions.
To Meera Bai, a registered nurse who worked at Insite while studying at Regent College, the ruling "is a victory for the Kingdom of God." But David Berner, executive director of the Drug Prevention Network of Canada and a Jew, says it defies common sense. "Why would you give a heroin addict a clean place to stay stupid?" he asks.
Opened in 2003 in the Downtown Eastside, Insite offers addicts a safe, clean place to shoot up. Staff give them clean needles and monitor them in case they overdose. They are also available to counsel those wanting to quit their habit.
The ruling marks the end of the Harper government's attempt to shut the clinic down as part of its tough-on-crime agenda. The justices agreed the health benefits Insite provides outweigh "any benefit of the criminal drug prohibition."
As a Christian, Bai admits she had some initial doubts about the morality of helping addicts get high. But she soon came to realize she was really there to build relationships with them, to actively love them and give them hope.
"When I hand an addict a needle, I'm not telling them, 'Please use drugs. It's good for you,'" she says. "I'm telling them that I believe their life has the potential for change - and I want them to stay alive until that day comes."
Even though it is a secular healthcare facility, Bai calls Insite a "testament" to the power of Christ-like love. "I found Christ everywhere I turned," she says. "Who would've ever thought that the Holy Spirit could work through foot gunk and pus-filled abscesses?"
John Stackhouse, who teaches theology and culture at Regent College, sees Bai's past involvement at Insite as an example of Christians at times needing to use questionable means in order "to do what we can to reduce all the evil we can."
"Sometimes to follow Christ in this world, we have to do something that is itself objectively wrong in order to do what God needs done, wants done, here and now," he says.
Berner, who started Canada's first drug treatment program in Winnipeg in 1967, rejects the entire reasoning behind giving addicts drugs as "insanity and a monstrosity."
"The only thing I can understand," he says, "is reaching out and saying, 'Buddy, you want to get out of this life? I'll work with you. It's going to take some hard work, but I have faith. And if you have faith, we'll make it.'"
Berner claims to know thousands of heroin addicts who are now clean and sober as a result. But never has he tried to begin the process with an addict who is high.
"Let's say [an Insite staff member] is helping Jenny shoot up. Now Jenny is as high as a kite and practically not there. There's something to talk about? Jenny is high and that's all she wanted," he says.
"The program that I ran, we were involved in life. What has Insite got to do with life?"
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