Health Minister Tony Clement says he questions the ethics of doctors who support the use of supervised injection sites for drug addicts.
Mr. Clement said Vancouver's Insite safe-injection centre has done little to reduce drug overdose deaths because most narcotics are still used in "back alleys and seedy motels."
The Health Minister said the ethical considerations of safe injection are "profoundly disturbing."
Mr. Clement was addressing the Canadian Medical Association's annual meeting in Montreal.
Association president Brian Day said close to 80 per cent of its members support harm reduction in the form of supervised-injection sites.
Mr. Day said sites that allow addicts to inject their own narcotics under the supervision of medical staff have been successful in curbing illegal drug use.
Insite opened in 2003 under an exemption from federal drug laws.
Ottawa is appealing a B.C. Supreme Court decision that struck down sections of Canada's drug laws as unconstitutional because they prevent Insite from operating.
