Report on supervised injection sites postponed

Region needs more time to complete report

WATERLOO REGION — A report on possible locations for supervised injection sites in Waterloo Region has been delayed.

Regional staff had hoped to bring a report back to council on Tuesday, but now the target is the next community services committee meeting on June 19.

“It’s recognizing the significance of the issue,” said Karen Quigley-Hobbs, the region’s director of infectious disease. “We do require more time to fully complete the work.”

Public health, in consultation with stakeholders in the community, is working to identify possible locations, a model for how the sites will operate, and a consultation plan for residents and businesses that would be directly affected by a site being established in their neighbourhood.

“We’re hoping for a more complete and fulsome report on the 19th,” Quigley-Hobbs said.

Then it’s up to councillors to decide how to proceed.

Councillors agreed unanimously at a special council meet- ing on April 10 to move ahead with the next step of pursuing supervised injection services. An amendment was added directing staff to consider a safe consumption site, where drug use wouldn’t be limited to injection.

The region is pursuing up to three sites as a starting point to support access for people using drugs. It is looking for locations in areas where a need has been identified, Quigley-Hobbs said.

Last year, there were 71 suspected overdose deaths in Waterloo Region, and 38 opioid-related deaths in 2016. More overdoserelated calls were coming from downtown Kitchener and south Cambridge (Galt), compared to other areas in the region, according to a feasibility study released in late February.

Cambridge passed a temporary bylaw banning injection sites — both permanent and temporary — from the city’s three core areas in April, following the decision by regional councillors to shelve a motion by Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig to exclude those areas as possible locations.

Sanguen Health Centre, which focuses on hepatitis C treatment and prevention with offices in Waterloo and Guelph, is looking across the region for a spot to open a temporary overdose prevention site.

The regional study found there are an estimated 4,000 people in the region who are injecting drugs. About four out of five reported injecting drugs alone, putting them at higher risk for a fatal overdose.

Most people who inject drugs — nearly nine out of 10 — said they would use or might use supervised injection services if they were available in the region.

The plan is to integrate supervised injection with other services. Any potential site must meet the requirements for federal approval and provincial funding.