Quebec OKs Safe-Injection Clinics

Further constitutional challenges are likely to pop up over provincial interpretations of the Supreme Court's InSite ruling.

The Quebec government is going ahead with plans to open safe-injection clinics in both Montreal and Quebec City now that the Supreme Court has ruled that Vancouver's InSite clinic can stay open. While it's not clear whether the InSite ruling allows for other clinics to open (some say it only permitted InSite to stay open), Quebec's health minister, Yves Bolduc, says the court's decision gives provinces the go-ahead to follow Vancouver's example and open clinics where addicts can inject heroin and other drugs with clean equipment under the supervision of nurses. Organizations that want to run clinics have already stepped forward in both Montreal and Quebec City, while the government will be accepting proposals from anyone else who wants to.