Hospital site won’t help

Re: Cambridge Memorial would consider injection site — June 23

We are one step closer to opening a safe consumption site in Kitchener and Cambridge, but we still have many hurdles to overcome. One of the latest arguments is that a safe consumption site should be in a hospital. While it is unfair to say that all substance users are treated as “less than,” there is a long-documented history of mutual mistrust between medical professionals and people who use drugs. It will take much more than a safe consumption site in a hospital to heal the decades of judgment and shame many users have faced at these facilities.

As someone who has worked with substance users and personally struggled with addiction, I understand what it’s like to experience discrimination and stigma at a hospital and have our ailments minimized or met with skepticism. Marginalized populations have the hardest time accessing health and social services, and those struggling with issues of poverty, homelessness, or addiction have historically been ignored and neglected by our health-care system. Users were asked where they want to access these services; the answer was not in a hospital.

If only a small number of people will use a hospital versus a standalone site, this reduces the impact a safe consumption site will have on our community. Aren’t we trying to help as many people as possible? Should we settle for a hospital site just because the public wants a safe consumption site out of sight? Or should we listen to those who will use these sites and have overwhelmingly told us that they will not go to a hospital?

Jenny Kirby

Kitchener