Pubdate: Mon, 21 Aug 2017
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Peter Edwards
Page: A2

SAFE INJECTION SITE GETS GREEN LIGHT

Downtown site a good start, but advocates want more done to tackle
opioid crisis

Health Canada has approved the immediate opening of a downtown
supervised safe injection site to combat the opioid crisis in Toronto,
but it's not nearly enough, according to one of the founders of an
unsanctioned pop-up site at Moss Park.

"It's not a crisis response," registered nurse Leigh Chapman said in
an interview.

"I think it's great that they have accelerated the opening of the
sanctioned safe injection sites," Chapman said, adding that it would
be useful for the site to have extended hours. "It would be great if
they could expand their hours and have much longer hours than we
have," Chapman said.

She said there are absolutely no plans to shut down the Moss Park
pop-up site, which currently runs seven days a week, with volunteers
working from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

"We can't abandon these people who are visiting our tent in Moss
Park," Chapman said. "We are building trust and allowing them the
opportunity to feel safe with volunteers who care about their
well-being. The city should care too."

More details on the facility at 277 Victoria St., near Yonge and
Dundas St., are expected from the Medical Officer of Health on Monday
morning. The interim site there has approval to run until at least
Feb. 28, 2018, according to Health Canada.

The Moss Park group has received funding from a GoFundMe campaign In
addition to supervising injections, it has handed out more than 200
kits of naloxone to block the effects of opioids.

Toronto Mayor John Tory met earlier this month with harm reduction
workers to talk about how to respond to the city's opioid problem.

Health Canada has already approved safe injection sites at the South
Riverdale Community Health Centre and at the Parkdale Queen West
Community Health Centre, but those sites remain closed pending
renovations. There were reportedly 2,400 deaths in Canada in 2016
blamed on opioid-related overdoses.

Chapman said her group has successfully responded to five
overdoses.

"Generally, every day we see 12 to 25 people," Chapman said. "These
are people that are injecting in the medical tents." Volunteers take
daily walks through Moss Park looking for discarded drug-injection
kits and reaching out to drug users, she said.

"We've reached out to a place where there is open drug use and the
population there is underserved," Chapman said.

The problem comes as heroin, which is grown from poppies and illegally
imported, is replaced by fentanyl, which is laboratory-produced and
has high potency.
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MAP posted-by: Matt