Pubdate: Thu, 06 Feb 2014
Source: Red Deer Advocate (CN AB)
Copyright: 2014 Black Press
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/QU97nuCm
Website: http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2492
Author: Murray Crawford

Safe Injection Site a Must: CAANS

A safe injection site in Red Deer could keep drug users off of 
private property, according to the Central Alberta AIDS Network Society.

Jennifer Vandershaege, CAANS executive director, said on Wednesday 
that offering safe injection facilities should be in the future of 
local support for drug users.

"Safe injection programming in Central Alberta would be something we 
want within the next five or 10 years," said Vandershaege. "I don't 
think Red Deer would be first in Alberta, it may be second or third.

"The program would be one of the services we (CAANS) provide or one 
of the services the street clinic provides. It's one of the pieces."

Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer is wary of a safe or supervised injection site.

"Whether it is allowing a safe injection site or a graffiti wall, 
there is often a halo effect of activity, which occurs when you 
legitimize one use within a specific location," said Veer. "There is 
often an unanticipated halo effect of that negative activity.

"I would be cautious in pursuing solutions that may have unintended 
consequences."

Tenants of the River Valley Apartments in downtown Red Deer are 
frustrated and fearful as the result of people coming into their 
hallways and stairwells, using needle-injected street drugs and then 
discarding the needles on the floor.

Stan Schalk, co-owner of Potter's Hands Developments, which includes 
the River Valley Apartments, said on Wednesday that they are going to 
get security at the building.

"We are hiring a security company to walk through the building a 
couple of times a night," said Schalk. "The issue isn't so much for 
the tenants we have, it's the people getting into the building. It's 
more of an issue of homelessness downtown and where do they go."

Schalk said he is trying, but admits it is tough to keep up with the 
damage and the garbage, adding it's not the only building with people 
coming in.

Vandershaege stressed that a safe injection sight in Red Deer 
wouldn't be like Insight in Vancouver, which is simply a place to do 
injections and dispose of needles. It would also offer support for 
people who use drugs.

The Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation would be closer to a model that could 
be implemented in Alberta, she said. That is an overarching support 
organization that provides safe and supervised injection site and 
other support services for drug users to deal with their addictions.

"The real piece that safe injection programming brings is around 
relationship building so that when people are ready to quit they have 
people in their world who are there for them," said Vandershaege.

"People who use drugs are incredibly marginalized and people treat 
them very badly every day. What we do is really try to build a 
relationship with them so they trust us and we can use that 
credibility and support for them so that when they are ready to quit 
or change what they're using or make any positive impact in their 
life, we can do that."

She said there aren't a lot of people in the drug users' world who 
don't judge them.

"That's the harm reduction philosophy -- we're not here to judge 
people who use drugs and it would be great if they quit," said 
Vandershaege, adding the reality is they're trying to prevent death 
and the spread of diseases like HIV, hepatitis C or AIDS.

A safe injection site would provide a way to properly dispose of 
needles and could prevent users from going to the River Valley 
Apartments as they would have another place to go.

She said CAANS gives out about 29,000 new needles every month. There 
are nine needle drop boxes in Red Deer, with one ready to be moved to 
a new location.

"The reality is we have hundreds of injection drug users in town and 
in Central Alberta," said Vandershaege.

"One thing we'd really like to do is have conversations with people 
who use drugs to support them in being good neighbours."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom