Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan is taking issue with an internal RCMP report that says the city's safe injection site may actually be encouraging drug use.

The RCMP document suggests that when the health risks associated with drug use are reduced, the number of people using intravenous drugs may go up.

But Sullivan said he can't imagine that anyone would be drawn to drug use after seeing the inside of the safe injection site in the city's Downtown Eastside.

"It is a very depressing place as far as I'm concerned. It really is an eye-opener to the horrible problems of addiction," said the mayor.

Earlier RCMP report endorsed clinic

The report, written by a senior Mountie, flies in the face of a report written for the RCMP by two B.C. criminologists earlier this year, which recommended that the federal government extend the site's mandate for another 3½ years.

It is also a departure from the force's official position of remaining neutral on Vancouver's supervised injection site.

The Conservative government refused the request to extend the life of the clinic until 2010, only agreeing to let it stay open until the end of 2007.

Sullivan says he discussed the issue at length in Ottawa last week and is pushing the Harper government to continue its support for the site.

"I am looking at options to expand the trial for additional time," said the mayor.

But Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he was waiting for the RCMP report before deciding on the long-term future of the site. He has also made it clear he's not in favour of facilitating drug use.

Proponents of the site have said the prime minister's opposition is ideological and accuse him of ignoring scientific evidence. 

Clinic a busy place

The safe injection site, which opened in 2003, is the only such facility in North America. It was established in response to overdose deaths and the health problems caused by shared needles.

According to the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, 453 drug users overdosed at the clinic in the two-year period that ended March 31, 2006, but none died, thanks to the trained staff.

They also provide counselling and made more than 4,000 referrals during the two years, 40 per cent of them to addiction counselling.

The clinic gets, on average, more than 600 visits a day.