Starting in early September, a safe-injection center in Vancouver will offer intravenous drug addicts who go to the site for clean needles access to detox beds as well as short-term housing facilities.
The center, called Insite, has built an addition (called Onsite) on its second and third floors. The second floor features 12 detox rooms, each with its own bathroom to allow recovering addicts privacy as they go through the process of withdrawing from drugs. The third floor contains 18 housing units for homeless persons in need of a stable temporary housing option.
Intertwining the safe-injection center and the detox facility will offer drug addicts who are ready to go through detox a place to receive treatment and support from a staff with whom they already feel comfortable.
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Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
