Officials in San Francisco said Tuesday they will open two safe injection sites this summer, joining Philadelphia and Seattle on the list of American cities that are planning to open sites where people in addiction can use drugs under medical supervision and be revived if they overdose. The announcement comes three weeks after Philadelphia officials announced their own plans to open a site here. Like Philadelphia's, the San Francisco site will be funded privately. And also like Philadelphia, the funding sources aren't yet clear, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. City officials there said they were working with "six to eight nonprofits that already operate needle exchanges and offer other drug addiction services." Two will host the first safe injection sites, and will likely open in July, officials said. [continues 105 words]
Re: Advocates pushing for safe injection site, by Brian Cross, Jan. 26. In this excellent article it mentions several people who advocate for a safe injection site and express the urgent need for an overdose prevention site. The article makes the following points: the need for the presence of medical professionals to supervise injections by drug users; the need to provide new needles in order to prevent infections; the importance of administering naloxone in case of an overdose; and the need to provide counselling so that more drug users will become former addicts, as is the case of Matt Cascadden. [continues 201 words]
San Francisco is on track to open its first two safe injection sites this July, a milestone that will likely make the city the first in the country to embrace the controversial model of allowing drug users to shoot up under supervision. Other cities - including Seattle, Baltimore and Philadelphia - are talking about opening their own safe injection facilities, but San Francisco could get there first. Facilities already exist in Canada, Australia and Europe. Barbara Garcia, director of San Francisco's Department of Public Health, said Monday that she's tending to the details, including where the facilities will be located. She's working with six to eight nonprofits that already operate needle exchanges and offer other drug addiction services, and two of them will be selected to offer safe injection on-site. [continues 956 words]
Some fear increased police presence will drive drug users to avoid health services While Vancouver police proclaim victory in a recent crackdown on crime in the Downtown Eastside, some locals fear the boost in beat cops is pushing people who use drugs into harm's way. Last week, Vancouver police increased foot patrols to address "street disorder" and prevent violence. Police said the sweeps came in response to a surge in complaints from residents, business owners and visitors. As well, people with mobility issues and the elderly have complained about blocked sidewalks and doorways. [continues 621 words]
A Philly nurse on safe injection sites "You want me to do what?" "Where's your compassion?" "What a waste of resources!" "I have an obligation to help people stay healthy." These are conflicting responses I imagine nurses and health-care professionals may have when asked to provide care at safe injection sites, places where people can use drugs under medical supervision. There aren't any such sites right now. But the City of Philadelphia announced that it will encourage setting them up. Should health-care professionals participate? It's a dilemma wrought with ethical, moral, legal, and regulatory issues and more questions than answers. As a nurse, I can understand and appreciate both sides. [continues 551 words]
453 people were revived 'from the brink of death' in 2017, Hamilton city officials hear More than one-quarter of naloxone kits distributed through Hamilton Public Health last year were used to revive someone from an overdose. Of the 1,700 opioid antidote kits handed out in 2017, 453 were reportedly used to revive a person. "Four-hundred and fifty-three people revived from the brink of death. It's hard to imagine that's anything but a success," said Michael Parkinson, who works with the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council and the Municipal Drug Strategy Coordinators Network of Ontario. [continues 633 words]
Physicians are afraid of doing the right thing, says Jordan Westfall. Public health officials in Windsor-Essex are sounding alarms about overdose deaths increasing in the past year. They have stated their interest in "exploring " if the cities of Windsor and Leamington need supervised consumption sites through a "feasibility study." Supervised consumption sites are places for people to use drugs in a safer manner, with properly trained staff ensuring nobody dies of overdose. Feasibility studies are costly to taxpayers, and even more expensive for people at risk of overdose, who will pay for this consultation with their lives. [continues 484 words]
"It's so unbearably soul-crushing," says Jennifer Johnson, referring to Niagara's exponential increase in opioid overdoses. "When is this going to end?" A report presented at a Niagara Region public health committee meeting this week shows a 335 per cent increase in the number of opioid overdoses that Niagara Emergency Medical Service paramedics responded to last year. In 2017 paramedics responded to 520 suspected overdoses, compared to 155 a year earlier. "You look at the news from out in B.C. and they've been knee-deep in this for years. But the numbers keep exponentially growing," said Johnson, co-founder of NAMES (Niagara Area Moms Ending Stigma), who lost her 25-year-old son Jonathan to a fentanyl overdose in April 2016. [continues 1239 words]
Committee to look at report next week Sudbury could become home to a safe injection site. The community services committee will hear next week about the prospect of undertaking a feasibility study for a site, which will cost $150,000 to $200,000. Council is being asked to endorse the report. "Through community consultations, under the mental health and compassionate city community priorities, the suggested action includes the study of and possible establishment of a supervised injection site," a staff report indicates. "In addition, the establishment of (a safe injection site) has been prioritized by the community drug strategy as part of the harm reduction pillar area of responsibility." [continues 439 words]
Last year was "the most tragic year ever" for illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C., prompting public health officials to push for the decriminalization of opioid possession and consumption to address the fentanyl epidemic. In 2017, 1,422 people died of illicit drug overdose deaths, up from 993 in 2016, chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said Wednesday. Victoria had the highest number of overdose deaths on Vancouver Island with 91, behind Vancouver (358) and Surrey (174). Lapointe said the epidemic in B.C. is "related to uncontrolled illicit fentanyl." [continues 667 words]
Kendall ends term by calling on province to think further outside the box, its comfort zones British Columbia's provincial health officer concluded his last day in the role with a call to further push the envelope in responding to the province's overdose crisis, which new numbers show killed more than 1,400 people last year. Perry Kendall said on Wednesday the year-end tally of 1,422 illicit-drug overdose deaths - a figure that works out to a rate of 29.6 per 100,000 population and will grow as outstanding death investigations are completed - show that B.C. is "still in the midst of a persistent and continuing epidemic of unintentional poisoning deaths. [continues 975 words]
OTTAWA - The war on drugs may move to a new battlefield in Canada, if Liberal MPs get their way: the 2019 federal election campaign. They're pushing the Trudeau government to go much further than legalizing recreational marijuana. In a priority resolution they hope will be adopted at the Liberals' policy convention in April for inclusion in the next election platform, the national caucus is calling on the government to eliminate criminal penalties for simple possession and consumption of all illicit drugs. [continues 352 words]
After reading the column written by Tyler Dawson on why it's time to legalize all drugs, I couldn't help butt my head as to why he would even suggest such a dangerous and ill thought-out plan. I myself am opposed to these so-called "safe" injection sites. Sure, it will save people from overdosing on heroin, but it also enables those to go out and do it all over again and again. It's unsafe for you to be injecting this poison into your body in the first place. [continues 146 words]
Health unit under fire for perceived lack of urgency in pursuing provincial funds Matt Cascadden, who lost seven friends last year to the raging opioid epidemic, is convinced a safe injection site in Windsor would save many lives. "It should be pushed, I think we need it big time, now," the 36-year-old Windsor man and former drug user said Thursday. Now living in a downtown residence, Cascadden contemplated the impact such a centre - part of an overdose prevention site currently being offered by the Ontario government - would have on the growing number of addicts who shoot up in parks, alleys and backyards. [continues 1009 words]
It was an idea born in the middle of a devastating epidemic with an ever-rising death rate. It drew the ire of state officials, threats to arrest those who operated it, and fears that it would encourage drug use and addiction. No, Philly did not just approve of 'Hamsterdam' It was a needle exchange to prevent reusing hypodermic needles, and the year was 1991. Twenty-seven years later, those involved in the struggle to open Prevention Point - still Philadelphia's only needle exchange - say the parallels are clear between that fight and the city's decision to encourage the opening of safe injection sites, where people in addiction can inject drugs under medical supervision and access treatment. [continues 853 words]
Provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall will call it a career next week, confident that the tools are finally in place to tackle the opioid overdose crisis that has ravaged this province for more than three years. Kendall has been among the chief architects of B.C.'s response to the deadly wave of powerful synthetic opioids that have largely replaced heroin in the illicit drug supply. Deputy provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry will replace Kendall when he officially retires on Jan. 31. Henry will become the first woman to serve as B.C.'s provincial health officer. [continues 801 words]
The opioid crisis affecting Canada and the world has surfaced in a significant dangerous way here in Lethbridge. This rampant drug abuse involving fentanyl, labelled as the "new alcohol," is being driven by factors that can and should be controlled by our own community activities or lack thereof. Much is being done to deal with the crisis, i.e. safe Injection site and other initiatives. Nevertheless, little is being done to deal with the underlying causes driving this crisis. Currently, our own Lethbridge Shelter is accommodating homeless citizens, many of whom are affected by addictions, homelessness, job loss, poverty. Many are selling drugs to put food in their bellies. On average, 65 per cent of the clientele are aboriginal. The shelter has become a refuge for drug dealers and users banished from the Blood Reserve - many as a direct result of the new "trespass" policy on the reserve. The Blood Tribe does not want them, and neither does Lethbridge. [continues 204 words]
British Columbia's first provincial health officer is resigning after nearly 20 years on a job he calls "incredibly rewarding." Perry Kendall, who declared a public health emergency in 2016 over the province's overdose crisis, will be leaving his post at the end of the month, when the deputy health officer will fill the position. Dr. Kendall has described the opioid epidemic as B.C.'s most devastating health issue because of the high number of deaths from fentanyl, which is cut into street drugs. [continues 337 words]
Watson voices concern about promoting smoking and putting workers at risk Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson says he won't support creation of cannabis lounges in the city, an idea being floated by the provincial government as the country heads toward legalizing recreational pot. "As the former Minister of Health Promotion, Mayor Watson does not want to make it easier for people to smoke any substance, including cannabis, in lounges," said a statement from Watson's office. "This would also put the health of workers at risk by inhaling second-hand smoke." [continues 616 words]
On Tuesday, Philadelphia officials took a bold step in addressing the opioid crisis that has increasingly plagued the region, by supporting the creation of medically supervised facilities where heroin users can safely inject drugs. While other cities, including Seattle and Baltimore, are also moving toward the safe site model, no city in the United States yet has an operating, sanctioned injection facility. The policy is controversial and polarizing, raising questions by public officials and citizens about legality, morality, and how to address a public health crisis - not to mention the logistical details of where and how such sites would operate. [continues 207 words]
