As we define the human rights questions around Insite and similar safe injection sites, I'd like to pay special attention to the intersection of addiction and the law. Do the medical necessities that accompany addiction present governments with different considerations when treating addicts under the law? Can addiction be considered a compelling reason for a person to break local or federal statutes involving narcotics use, and should concerns about a greater societal good be weighed against the rights of an addict? For example, to what degree should the change in the rate of violent crime, for better or worse, be factored into the policy decision to allow or forbid drug use? And does a venue such as Insite – which in practice becomes a social center for intravenous drug users in addition to a purely medical facility – address a human rights concern that would fall outside the purview of other narcotics laws?
