WHALLEY -Fraser Health Authority hopes to have the two proposed Surrey injection sites open this spring. One site is proposed at the 94A Street Quibble Creek Sobering Centre, and another on 135A Street in partnership with Lookout Emergency Aid Society. Both would require Section 56 exemptions to allow them to operate. Fraser Health submitted a partial application for the sites on Dec. 30, according to a report to Surrey's Public Safety Committee. The report reveals the health authority has signed a formal letter of intent with Britco, allowing them to produce drawings of a trailer that would house supervised consumption services. [continues 312 words]
SURREY - After having to end its needle pickup program after a loss in funding, Lookout Emergency Aid Society has temporarily revived the program. The peer-led Rig Dig program, which began in 2006, came to a halt on Sept. 9 came after the society was unsuccessful in its bid for $44,000 in gaming grant funding this year. But it has been announced that Lookout Foundation has granted $10,000 out of an emergency fund to restore the program this week, enough to keep it running until the end of March 17, according to a release. [continues 413 words]
It's been more than a decade since North America's first legal supervised injection site opened its doors on the Downtown East Side and now debate is flying over whether Surrey should have its own. It should. Full stop. With epidemic levels of overdoses, Fraser Health says they're putting together an "aggressive" strategy to combat the issue - possibly such a facility in Surrey. On the weekend of July 15, Surrey Memorial Hospital saw 43 overdoses. Since then? An average of three a day. [continues 736 words]
WHALLEY - A program responsible for the cleanup of hundreds of used needles a day in Surrey might see its end in September due to funding cuts. As the Now reported last week, the Downtown Surrey BIA is calling for expansion of the needle program due to used syringes becoming an "ever-growing concern" in the area over the past two years. Lookout Emergency Aid Society's provincial gaming grant is not being renewed and as a result, their peer-lead 'Rig Dig' needle recovery program is in crisis. [continues 328 words]
Every day, hundreds of discarded needles are picked up from Whalley streets, many of them just steps from City Hall. Now, a downtown business group is offering up fresh solutions. On one side of the street, children glide up and down on their skateboards at Chuck Bailey skate park. Their laughter fills the air. On the other side of 107A Avenue, not far away, a homeless man named Robert sits on the ground behind a tree, shrieking while feverishly clapping his hands. His belongings, including a handful of needles, are strewn about on a damp, dirty piece of carpet. [continues 1390 words]
EXCLUSIVE: Former RCMP officer says good old-fashioned proactive policing will force bad guys to 'get out of Dodge' Everyone and their dog has an opinion on how Surrey's law enforcement could or should be cracking down on the rampant shooting spree. Joseph Edwards certainly does. And as a retired RCMP officer with 35 years of service under his belt - - 15 in Surrey - it's safe to say he knows the agency and the city well. [continues 934 words]
Holding the addict's hand as he overdosed isn't what hit Erin Schulte the hardest. It was the way he smelled. "I remember looking at him and thinking he was so 'normal.' Clean cut. I smelled his cologne. No scabs or wounds. Nice clothing. I just remember how he smelled and remember thinking, 'Why does this guy feel the need to get so high he leaves this planet?'" She sat on the ground with him, rubbing his hand. She told him to come back and not to stop breathing. [continues 1443 words]
SURREY - Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner is confident that "this too shall pass." She is of course referring to the relentless shooting spree that continued in Surrey this week. As of Wednesday morning there had been 32 shooting incidents since Jan. 1. There have been three arrests related to the incidents. Hepner said the city has made "significant progress" in this year's shootings and the current violence is different than last year's, in which the city saw 52 shootings. A handful of the incidents are believed to be connected to a new drug war different from last year's dial-a-dope turf war. Police haven't put a name to the two groups but characterized them as "low-level" players. [continues 709 words]
When Donna May's daughter died of an overdose in 2012, a drug that may have saved her life was within arm's reach It's every parent's worst nightmare - watching your child die. Yet that was Donna May's reality on Aug. 21, 2012. That night, May returned home from walking her dogs to find her daughter Jac, a longtime addict, overdosing. "I could hear the normal sounds of an overdose," she said. "The laboured breath. The snoring. The gurgling sounds. I flew upstairs." [continues 1674 words]
I thought I was watching a man die. I couldn't shake this stark realization as I stared at the five-minute-and-thirty-four second recording on my phone the next day. I was almost too scared to play it. Less than five minutes into an interview the night before with Pop-Up Soup Kitchen founder Erin Schulte, two people overdosed within a block of where I stood. People screamed for help, running every which way. It was chaotic. Frantic. [continues 672 words]
Another SHOT at Life A drug is saving lives on Surrey streets - and Health Canada just made it available without a prescription. But as 'Now' reporter Amy Reid witnesses firsthand, even experienced drug users are not immune to the rash of overdoses striking the region. Click here to read her column. Her voice pierces the air, her face crimson like the setting sun. She summons all her energy to scream. "NARCAN!" Jeff's gone limp on the pavement, heroin burning through his veins. [continues 1367 words]
SFU Criminology Prof Says Growers Are Likely Setting Up Shop in Other Cities Grow-ops in Surrey are down by almost 82 per cent, say city officials. Surrey's Electrical Fire Safety Inspection (EFSI) program, which started in 2005, is being credited for reducing the number of confirmed marijuana grow-ops in the city. The city's EFSI team includes representation from Surrey Fire Service, RCMP, electrical inspections and bylaw enforcement. There were 445 confirmed grow-ops in Surrey in 2007 through the EFSI program, which was down to 82 in 2011, a drop of 81.6 per cent. [continues 781 words]