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]
Health Canada approved the first few supervised consumption facilities in Alberta on Wednesday, including a site in downtown Lethbridge. ARCHES and Edmonton-based coalition AMSISE received an exemption from federal drug legislation, allowing them to operate supervised consumption sites. Four sites are slated to open, three in Edmonton and one in Lethbridge, which will operate out of the former night club Pulse. The application process for Lethbridge moved quicker than most and Jill Manning, the managing director of ARCHES, feels that may be a result of the unique issues Lethbridge is facing around substance use. [continues 571 words]
Re: Local safe injection sites urged for drug strategy (Oct. 11) Medically supervised facilities for the administration and consumption of illicit drugs are proposed as a means to save lives, protect the community and help reduce illicit drug use itself. Of course, opponents disagree, either questioning their effectiveness, or objecting to the idea of enabling addiction and saving people from themselves. But, whatever their differences, people seem to agree that improved public health and social engineering are the primary objectives. I submit this is fundamentally misguided. [continues 175 words]
Re: Local safe injection sites urged for drug strategy (Oct. 11) Safe injection sites are being considered for Brantford following the model of Vancouver and, soon, Toronto. I am torn. My first visceral response is why should taxpayer dollars be used to promote drug use. My kinder gentler side (the side that usually wins) says safe injection sites don't legitimize drug use. Instead, they simply provide a safe environment so drug users don't die. I don't have the answer but I hope that, if a safe injection site is funded, that counselling services are available to encourage drug users to leave the drug scene and return to a healthy productive lifestyle. I also hope that officials will be prudent and search for way to do this in a fiscally responsible manner. [continues 62 words]
Re: "Opioid deaths rising, yet drug use tolerated," letter, Oct. 17. The letter-writer hypothesized that the opioid-overdose epidemic is a consequence of increased use, stemming from our tolerance of drug use, as demonstrated by supervised-injection sites and homeless shelters. In reality, the most significant driver of increased opioid use has been opioid prescriptions. The spike in overdose deaths has been caused by the introduction of fentanyl and other potent synthetic opioids into the illicit-drug supply. There has never been a fatal overdose at a supervised-injection site, although many have been averted. There is no evidence that supervised-injection sites encourage, perpetuate or "enable" drug use. On the contrary, injection sites shepherd drug users into detox and treatment. Vancouver's Insite, for example, shares a building with a detox clinic called Onsite. Perhaps we should leave life-and-death theorizing to public-health professionals who are familiar with the literature on the subject. Matthew M. Elrod Victoria [end]
Clinical coordinator at Vancouver's largest supervised injection site says P.A. should open similar facility Prince Albert should open a safe injection site before a bad situation gets worse, says a senior staff member from Canada's first legal facility for injecting drugs. Tim Gauthier, clinical coordinator at Vancouver's Insite, was the keynote speaker at the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region's HIV Education for Change event on Wednesday. He said he was shocked when he heard how many drug users in the Prince Albert area are contracting HIV through needles. The numbers convinced him that the city needs to expand its harm reduction programs. [continues 1807 words]
By next summer, a brave new world will dawn on Edmonton streets. Smokers will openly, and quite legally under certain restrictions, puff on joints purchased from a cannabis store selling a line of products sanctioned by and maybe even distributed by a provincial agency. If the Notley government decides to adopt a public retailing system instead of a private model, the province itself may adopt the role of pot dealer - a scenario that a few scant years ago would have rightly elicited a "what-have-you-been-smoking?" response in a region traditionally known for small-c conservative values. [continues 344 words]
It is great to see Edmonton embracing supervised injection sites. The number of people dying from fentanyl (thousands per year) would be alarming but for the general indifference our governments have for drug users. The war on drugs directly causes fentanyl deaths; people trying to use cocaine inadvertently use fentanyl, then overdose. The war on drugs directly supports organized crime. If all drugs were legal and regulated, cartels would not exist: they are the only group that benefits from this policy. [continues 74 words]
I was disturbed by the language of Shelly Williams when talking about safe injection sites. "This is for people who are injecting substances in unsafe environments, and providing them the opportunity to inject in a safe place where we can deepen relationships." She leaves out that the substances are illegal, and it has a $2.3 M annual cost. Food bank demand is surging, kids are going to school hungry and our government is coddling drug addicts? Jason Morton (The goal is to defray costs to the healthcare system and prevent deaths.) [end]
After years of debate over whether the city should open supervised injection sites for those who use drugs, Londoners soon will get a chance to weigh in. Public hearings will start later this month or November, says Dr. Christopher Mackie, chief medical officer of health with the Middlesex-London Health Unit. While Mackie first floated the idea more than four years ago, it made no sense to push for the sites until Londoners learned about their potential benefits and how risks to public safety could be mitigated, he said Thursday. [continues 261 words]
In more than 35 years as an emergency room physician, Dan Morhaim has learned a lot about opioids. The doctor, Maryland state legislator and faculty member at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said he has had the opportunity to talk to thousands of drug users while treating patients. "It's given me tremendous insight into what goes on and that's informed a lot of the policies that I've promoted," he said. The physician was in Calgary on Wednesday to speak about that approach as part of a University of Calgary School of Public Policy and O'Brien Institute of Public Health event. [continues 396 words]
A plan to increase the availability of needle containers in the community is being welcomed by some city residents. "I think it's a good idea," said Tracey Bucci, of the Grand River Environmental Group. "It would help reduce the risk of innocent people and animals from becoming infected by discarded needles. However, addiction issues do still need to be addressed because that's the root of the problem." Bucci and her group of volunteers led clean-up efforts this year aimed at collecting used syringes in the area of Mohawk Lake. [continues 444 words]
The chorus calling on Ottawa to decriminalize possession of all drugs is growing louder and more urgent. The government should listen The chorus calling on Ottawa to rethink its approach to the epidemic of opioid overdoses sweeping this country is growing louder and more urgent. Two new reports issued this week echo a broad consensus among public health experts: decriminalizing the possession of all drugs is crucial if we're going to tackle this crisis. In Ontario, more than two people died from opioid overdoses every day last year - and the rate seems to have risen in 2017. In British Columbia, the problem is even worse. [continues 558 words]
