Vancouver clinic lets addicts shoot up legally

VANCOUVER, Canada. -- A new program in Canada is allowing drug addicts to shoot-up legally to prevent the spread of HIV, other diseases, and even overdoses.

It is the only "supervised injection center" in North America.

There, drug addicts can bring their drugs and legally use them in a setting with clean rooms and clean needles. There are even nurses on hand to help addicts choose the safest vein.

"The way in North America we deal with addiction is ridiculous. We'll look back in history and think why do we treat human beings in such a brutal way?" said Mark Townsend, supervised injection campaigner. "It didn't seem to us to be fair that the sentence for the scourge of addiction in someone's life was death."

Eight-hundred people use the booths every day and all funded by taxpayers at the cost of $3-million a year.