Why are Ottawa politicians, and by extension the Ottawa Police Services, continue to condone the use of illegal hard drugs by allowing the pop-up safe-injection site to remain open? With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's push to legalize marijuana, am I assuming the Liberals' next step will be to legalize all illegal drugs? This may be the plan, to have a drug-induced and dumbed-down electorate. Don Day Ottawa (Even the Trudeau Liberals might not have the guts to go there) [end]
Here in Vancouver, it's tempting to praise ourselves for our forward-thinking approaches to illicit drug use. We're home to Insite, the first supervised-injection facility in North America, the success of which paved the way for Health Canada to start approving prospective supervised-injection sites in other cities across the country this year. We're also home to the first and only prescription heroin program on the continent, which has proven how life-changing it can be for a person entrenched in opiate addiction to have access to a clean, regulated supply of drugs. [continues 970 words]
Tory Leader open to new ideas for tackling crisis in B.C., but remains leery of supervised drug-use sites and further decriminalization Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says he is trying to keep an open mind on options for dealing with the opioid overdose crisis in British Columbia, but is not backing off key tenets on harm reduction his party pushed in government. That includes reservations about supervised drug-use sites. In an interview on Wednesday ahead of a visit later this month to the Lower Mainland, Mr. Scheer also said prosecuting drug users may steer them into rehabilitation programs that would reduce the risk of overdoses. [continues 591 words]
Ottawa's largest permanent supervised injection site could be open in a Lowertown trailer as soon as this weekend. The trailer, to be operated by Ottawa Inner City Health and located outside Shepherds of Good Hope on Murray Street, will be open 24/7 and serve a population of between 100 and 150 injection drug users, said Inner City Health executive director Wendy Muckle. Ontario's Health Minister Eric Hoskins has endorsed the site in a letter to federal Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, his office said Monday. [continues 546 words]
Re. "MP hosts impassioned debate over supervised injection sites in southwest," Oct. 30 The title should have been "MP misses the point." Supervised consumption services (SCS) primarily save lives, and anyone who has lost a loved one can tell you how important that is. Our son Danny died from an overdose in 2014. He was only 25, was a promising young chef and is dearly missed. There are many families like ours who are members in our group Moms Stop The Harm, who live in MP Matt Jeneroux's riding of Edmonton-Riverbend. I encourage him to meet them. [continues 111 words]
A Brantford man who has battled drug addiction for more than 40 years hopes the city follows through with safe injection sites as part of its strategy to combat substance abuse. But Randy Roberts, 53, said there is also a need for the treatment of trauma as part of a program to treat substance abuse. "I want people to remember that we're all hurting," he said. "There has been a lot of work done on this and for most addicts the root cause of their addiction is childhood trauma -- physical, psychological, sexual abuse." [continues 701 words]
Coalition of agencies is working to provide 24/7 service, Shelley Williams writes. Access to Medically Supervised Injection Services Edmonton, known as AMSISE, is a coalition of 25 individuals and groups, including people with lived experience, community agencies, medical, academic, and public sector representatives. AMSISE started as a conversation with Edmonton's harm reduction needle distribution service, Streetworks, in January of 2012 and continues to be a community-driven initiative. The focus is on people with severe and chronic addictions, usually homeless, whose chaotic and furtive injection-drug use takes place in unsafe environments, including parks, back alleys, behind dumpsters, along fences, and in agency and public washrooms. Multiple studies have established a direct link between unstable housing and public injecting. Communities will benefit by reducing unsafe needle debris as an unintentional hazard. [continues 438 words]
WATERLOO REGION - Potential locations for supervised injection sites in Waterloo Region will be made public by January, as Waterloo Region Public Health begins a feasibility study into whether the harm reduction service is needed here, what concerns the community might have and how to address them. A supervised injection site would provide a safe, clean place for people to use their own drugs under the care of trained staff. Its goals would be to reduce overdose rates and overdose deaths; reduce transmission of diseases from shared needles; help drug users connect to other health and social services, including drug treatment; and reduce drug use in public places and the amount of unsafely discarded needles and other litter. [continues 567 words]
Heated debate erupted in the gymnasium at Dr. Margaret-Ann Armour School Saturday as residents of Edmonton-Riverbend argued over whether their suburban community would ever welcome supervised injection sites. "It was pretty clear that a lot of people weren't supportive of safe injection sites coming into suburban areas, which we've been hearing through letters to the office and phone calls," said Matt Jeneroux, MP for Edmonton-Riverbend. Supervised injection sites - where intravenous drug users can inject under the supervision of medical professionals as a way to reduce overdose deaths - are approved for the Royal Alexandra Hospital, the Boyle McCauley Health Centre, Boyle Street Community Services and the George Spady Society. [continues 506 words]
Safe sites for drug users stir up heated debate at MP-led community forum in southwest Edmonton Heated debate erupted in the gymnasium at Dr. Margaret-Ann Armour School Saturday as residents of Edmonton-Riverbend argued over whether their suburban community would ever welcome supervised injection sites. "It was pretty clear that a lot of people weren't supportive of safe injection sites coming into suburban areas, which we've been hearing through letters to the office and phone calls," said Matt Jeneroux, member of parliament for Edmonton-Riverbend. [continues 550 words]
The solution lies in public education, not punishment, writes Terry Lake. Recently, I attended a meeting hosted by We the Parents, a Kanata organization trying to address the challenge of addictions and the very real tragedies that befall affected families. I saw grieving parents struggling to understand both the complexities of addiction and the way our health and criminal justice systems are responding to it. Understandably, many who attended were looking for straightforward, actionable solutions to this crisis. They were met with a response by one former senior police officer that those selling drugs should be given harsher sentences. While it may seem appealing to go after the dealers instead of the user, in fact, many dealers are themselves struggling with addiction and using whatever tools are at hand, including selling drugs, to cope with that addiction. [continues 590 words]
The evidence points to an urgent need, say Elaine Hyshka and Cameron Wild. Last week, Health Canada issued the approvals to establish supervised consumption services in Edmonton. Scientific evidence consistently supports the individual and community benefits of these services, and local data demonstrate an urgent need for them in our inner city. Unfortunately, some people allege ("Safe injection sites will hurt vulnerable communities," Oct. 21) the scientific evidence used to support Health Canada's decision is biased and not credible. We write to correct this misrepresentation of facts. [continues 582 words]
Safe injection sites only serve to delay the inevitable downward spiral of life for addicts. In the meantime, larger and larger areas of downtown become even more unlivable as the number of addicts rises. This leads to more robberies, assaults, murders as addicts commit crimes to support their lifestyles and dealers fight for market share and territory. We only have a couple of options: One is to supply addicts with drugs and supplies under condition they don't commit any crimes. Since they're addicts, they'd be under our control. A total enablement and surrender if there ever was one. Or, more realistically, as a society we need to make some fundamental changes toward drug treatment. Make detox more available and, once voluntarily entered, a person cannot leave until the program is complete. P.M. Zupan, Edmonton [end]
Supervised drug consumption site set to open Jan. 2 What's old will be renewed again in a bid to save lives from the rising number of drug overdoses in Lethbridge. Government officials and local media received a tour Friday of the city's future supervised consumption site, currently under construction. The former Pulse nightclub is being transformed into what will become a "clean and safe space" area for drug users to snort, inhale, inject or swallow drugs while under the supervision of healthcare professionals and without fear of arrest. [continues 1061 words]
My hope is that the supervised injection sites recently approved at four locations in Edmonton will become a jumping-off point for heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) in our province. In my opinion, it is the only way to tackle the opioid scourge that is leaving a trail of bodies in its wake. Countries like Switzerland have experienced rates of homelessness and property crime associated with problematic drug use approaching zero per cent after approving the use of HAT by qualified doctors. This approach is counter-intuitive to many, but the numbers speak for themselves. The health authority in the United Kingdom figures that for every dollar spent on harm reduction, it saves $3 in health services and enforcement. Steven Zerebeski, Beaumont [end]
Vancouver's experience isn't very encouraging, writes Warren Champion. The news tells us the epicentre of opioid/fentanyl deaths appears to be situated in the urban core of Edmonton, specifically, in the communities of Central McDougall and McCauley. The three levels of government created an organization named AMSISE - Access to Medically Supervised Injection Services. AMSISE applied to the federal government on May 1 for a waiver that would allow approved sites to provide supervised injection services. The rationale given was "the spike in opioid-related overdose deaths has pushed the need for an effective set of responses into the forefront for community and government." [continues 618 words]
With just enough methadone to last the trip home to Montreal, Melodie was in a panic that she'd missed her flight. She was in Paris, and her supply of prescription methadone, a medicine that helps lower cravings and withdrawal symptoms caused by opiate use, was about to run out. Without it, she worried about a relapse, going into the street in desperation, and doing something dangerous for a fix. But an online search brought her to a Parisian mobile health clinic. And they welcomed her. They gave her the methadone that she needed to stay sober. There was no bureaucracy, no delay, and no prescription signed by someone in authority - just instant help. [continues 538 words]
Supporters of Edmonton's Chinatown and urban community league members say they 're disappointed with the Ottawa's approval of four supervised drug consumption sites in the city's core. "We feel that it's an extremely unfair decision, and not well-informed," Michael Lee, chairman of the Chinese Benevolent Association, said Wednesday. "The basic rights of some communities (were) totally ignored." Alberta Health announced Wednesday that its federal counterpart had approved three supervised injection sites in Edmonton's downtown core and supervised consumption services for inpatients at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. [continues 276 words]
Alberta's first supervised drug injection sites will open within months at four locations in Edmonton's inner city after receiving approval from Health Canada, the provincial government announced Wednesday. Proponents hailed the news as a "long overdue" step that will save lives and direct more addicts into treatment. The goal is to get three community sites open by late December or early January, while a fourth facility at the Royal Alexandra Hospital is anticipated to open sometime in the spring of 2018. [continues 1235 words]
When did Ottawa become such an unlawful city? I can't believe that illegal pot shops and injection sites are allowed to operate. Why do the police and the city not have the gumption to shut them down? What about taxpaying residents who want safe access for their families to this park? Their rights are being violated by the very people who are supposed to protect them. This is not right. Sue Warren, Ottawa [end]
