Consumption site to be a ‘clean and safe space,’ SACPA told
In less than two months, Lethbridge will be home to a supervised drug consumption site, aimed at saving lives amid a local drug overdose epidemic. It will be North America’s first supervised inhalation site and is the only facility so far to be granted approval by Health Canada to permit all four modes of consumption — injection, oral, intranasal and inhalation.
The former nightclub site, located at 1016 1 Ave. S., is under construction and on track for completion in January.
It is to be a “clean and safe space” for drug users to snort, inhale, inject or swallow drugs while under the supervision of health-care professionals and without fear of arrest.
ARCHES Lethbridge, a local harm-reduction agency, will operate the site with wraparound services dedicated to prevention, addictions counselling, housing and employment services.
Jill Manning, ARCHES’ managing director, presented “Does Lethbridge need a Supervised Site for the Consumption of Harmful Drugs?” at Thursday’s SACPA meeting.
The latest provincial data from January to August shows 315 individuals in Alberta died from an apparent drug overdose related to fentanyl, up more than 50 per cent from the same period last year.
Per capita, Lethbridge’s drug overdose death rate exceeds Calgary and Edmonton. Emergency room visits due to opioid or substance misuse are 25 per cent higher in the South Zone than elsewhere in the province, according to Alberta Health Services.
It’s the “largest public health crisis we are facing in modern history,” said Manning, losing more people “than at the height of the HIV epidemic in the ’80s.”
ARCHES supports about 3,000 clients in Lethbridge, and a similar number in rural areas around the city. About 650 of those clients accessed harm-reduction supplies in the six months leading up to Oct. 31.
Supervised consumption sites are a relatively new concept in North America, but they have existed in Europe since 1986. ARCHES examined more than three decades of data to determine the best practices going forward and to ensure the health and safety of their clients and staff.
Misconceptions still exist about supervised consumption sites, but the benefits have been proven.
“Studies have shown that involvement in supervised consumption services actually increase uptake into treatment by 30 per cent, and that’s because these folks otherwise don’t have those connections,” said Manning.
Another positive aspect to having the site is the amount of needle debris in public areas is expected to decline.
“And ultimately we’re saving lives. Not only from the user perspective is that extremely important but it’s also important from a general health-care perspective because right now there is a large stress that’s being placed on our emergency response teams, and on our emergency rooms within Chinook Regional Hospital.”
To date, Health Canada has approved six supervised consumption sites in Alberta, including four in Edmonton and one in Calgary.
The west side of the Lethbridge facility will house the consumption site. There will be six booths for injection/ingestion/intranasal and two rooms for inhalation, with a maximum of three people allowed per room. There will also be a drop-in space where people can do laundry, have a shower, prepare a meal, use computers, or access the Indigenous cultural space with First Nations, Metis and Inuit programs.
The area will be staffed by registered nurses or LPNs, harmreduction specialists and addictions counsellors. The east side of the building will be used for offices and meeting space.
The building will also feature an enhanced ventilation system to ensure workplace health and safety for employees and clients. It's been mechanically engineered to exchange air flow at a higher rate than a regular system, along with an emergency switch system to automatically turn air over. Masks will be kept onsite and policies and procedures put in place.
Once the renovations are complete, Manning says there will be opportunities for the public to tour the building before it’s open for use. ARCHES will also move operations over from its current home on 6 Avenue S. Manning believes the site will be operational in early February 2018.