Safe injection sites: When compassion is also good policy

The Premier of Ontario gets to make lots of decisions – including whether Peterborough will get a temporary safe injection site for drug users.

Four months ago Peterborough became one of the first Ontario cities to apply for provincial approval of a temporary site.

Studies have shown that clean needles and medical help provided at the sites save lives and reduce the spread of infectious diseases, particularly HIV and hepatitis C.

Critics say the safe injection model panders to drug users rather than helping them kick their habit.

Premier Doug Ford is among those critics. During the recent election campaign Ford said he was “dead against” safe injection sites.

A coalition of supporters for a local site that includes the Peterborough AIDS Resource Network (PARN), the local health unit, city police and city council are now waiting to see what Ford and his new government adopt in the way of policy or legislation.

On the surface, “dead against” doesn’t suggest options. The premier would be expected to end approval and funding for the sites.

Fortunately this is not a surface issue. The waters run deeper, something Ford and his team seem to appreciate.

Shortly after Ford’s “dead against” statement his campaign team put out a more nuanced response indicating that a Tory government would consult experts “as we help individuals deal with their addictions.”

On the health and prevention side the experts are clear: safe injection sites reduce overdose deaths and illness while providing advice on addiction control and contact with rehab programs.

Peterborough’s medical officer of health describes them as “part of a comprehensive drug strategy.”

Peterborough can’t afford to ignore that piece of the strategy. Health statistics show that this community ranks among the worst in Ontario for opioid-related deaths and hospital treatment for opioid poisoning.

Last year, locally, 20 people died from suspected opioid overdoses.

Safe injection sites are also good fiscal health policy, according to a 2015 study by doctors at St. Michael’s hospital in Toronto. It found that a permanent Toronto site would generate net savings of nearly $500,000 a year.

The Ford government will also have to consider a relevant Supreme Court of Canada decision.

In 2011 the Supreme Court blocked Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government from shutting down what was then the country’s only safe injection site in Vancouver.

The government’s position was that injection sites violate the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, which makes drug possession illegal.

The court ruled that removing the safe injection option was unconstitutional because it deprived users of their right to life and security of the person.

The justices stated that exemptions from criminal legislation should generally be granted when “. . . as here, the evidence indicates that a supervised injection site will decrease the risk of death and disease, and there is little or no evidence that it will have a negative impact on public safety.”

The ruling also gives weight to “expressions of community support or opposition.”

In Peterborough, the support of city police, city council, the medical officer of health and PARN would presumably carry a lot of weight.

Overall public opinion might not go the same way. In the end, good policy and compassion should win out. Safe injection sites work. Peterborough needs one and the Ford government should allow it.