Supervised injection sites about safety, dignity
Beginning this summer, at St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church in downtown Kitchener, we began finding more and more used needles on our property. After reading a letter to The Record a number of weeks ago about whether a church would want to have a supervised injection site nearby, we decided to take some time for reflection on the issue of safety and injection drug use in our neighbourhood.
As a result, the clergy and lay leaders of St. John’s decided that we would support a supervised injection site in downtown Kitchener for two reasons.
We support a supervised injection site for the sake of safety. St. John’s is already an unsafe and unsupervised injection site, unsafe both for those injecting and using, and because of discarded needles, also unsafe for everyone who uses the church’s space. As part of a comprehensive response to addiction that includes other forms of treatment, we support the site because it would mean that overdose deaths and other complications will be lessened. Further, research tells us that when there is a supervised injection site nearby, the number of dirty needles found in public spaces is lessened considerably, which would contribute to the safety of our green spaces for all those who visit and use them.
We support a supervised injection site for the sake of human dignity. We love our neighbours; even, and perhaps especially, those among us who are users and suffering from addiction. A supervised injection site is far better than leaving people to inject in alleyways and in public parks, which only contributes to social marginalization. Offering addicts and users a safe space, free from judgment, and where other social services could be accessed, including additional treatment options, would give some dignity to our neighbours who inject. This support is one way for us to express our unreserved love for them.
We hope that the province continues its support of safe injection sites. But if they do back away, we would hope that the region will increase its level of support. Our neighbours are dying, and the time to sit idly by has long passed.
Rev. Dr. Preston D.S. Parsons
St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church Kitchener