Police make strong push for safe site to use drugs
Calgary’s police chief said the city needed safe injection sites “years ago” and hinted that details on the city’s first supervised drug ingestion hub will be announced soon.
Chief Roger Chaffin told reporters Wednesday that progress is being made when it comes to a supervised environment where users of fentanyl and other deadly opioids will be able to consume drugs and receive help.
“We are working pretty aggressively,” Chaffin said.
“We’ll be doing some announcements here pretty quickly about what will happen in Calgary. We’ll start with an offering and we’ll look at how much growth do we need. . . . Where else could we do this work?”
Coun. Richard Pootmans, a member of the police commission, acknowledged some elected officials don’t want safe opioid consumption sites within their ward boundaries but said he’s willing to champion the issue.
“We’re still working on some of the details. Location is an issue,” Pootmans said.
“I’d consider it in the ward I represent and I think, frankly, a number of councillors are going to have to feel that way as well. If this becomes a NIMBY issue, I would be disappointed.”
Pootmans’ remarks come as Edmonton city council voted earlier this week to write a letter of support for four proposed supervised injection sites in that city’s downtown, which a city report said would save hundreds of thousands of dollars in per-person-inlifetime health costs.
Nearly 350 Albertans died of fentanyl overdoses last year.
When asked how fast Calgary needs to move on the city’s first safe ingestion hub, Chaffin was direct.
“Obviously, the better answer is it would have been nicer to have those years ago,” he said.
Chaffin acknowledged fear exists around safe opioid consumption, citing visions of “needles on the streets and squalor,” but said if sites are done well they will offer an opportunity to help addicts navigate the system and get help.
“I look at it this way: In a clinical setting, it’s our first opportunity or one of the best opportunities as a community we have to meet with these people,” Chaffin said.
“It’s considerably less money to create healthier people than it is to lock people up.”
Pootmans, the councillor for Ward 6, said he’s hopeful Calgarians are ready to embrace the service.
“Look, if we can’t deal with our problems we’re not much of a city,” he said.
“We really have to understand that not everybody is as fortunate as others are and if we’re not looking out for all Calgarians, I think we’re a smaller city than we could be.”