DRUG SITE HAS VALUE
The concerns of some East Village residents must be heard, but the proposal to provide a mobile safe consumption drug site in the district is sure to save lives. As of May 6, there were 112 fentanyl deaths in Calgary in 2018, part of a scourge that claimed 228 lives across the province. It’s feared the year-end total could be approximately 100 more deaths than the 583 recorded in 2017, which was the deadliest year so far in Alberta.
“We’re seeing an escalation in the instances of carfentanil being found, which is quite disturbing — people overdose quite rapidly,” says Leslie Hill, executive director of HIV Community Link, the agency that would operate the mobile service.
Roy Stuart, 78, is among the residents voicing misgivings about the project, which is focused on harm reduction for users of opioids and other hard drugs. “A lot of seniors here are scared to death because they can’t defend themselves, and there’s a lot of families with kids, too,” says Stuart.
The goal of the mobile safe consumption site is to improve conditions in the East Village, where there is higher-than-usual drug use, not make matters worse. The unit — staffed by nurses and social workers who would also offer education and referrals for housing and human services — would be regularly parked at sites that have been identified by EMS as being visited by people having a high likelihood of drug overdose.
Rather than attracting drug users to the area, as some residents fear, “it’s planned for an area where it’s already happening; it’s really addressing the needs in the specific area,” points out Hill.
The opportunity to save lives and treat Calgarians struggling with drug addiction must be seized, even if the presence of the 30-metrelong unit is unsettling to some East Village residents. Hill notes that in other jurisdictions that have implemented mobile sites for the consumption of previously purchased drugs, there has been a reduction of drug use on the streets and less discarded paraphernalia.
That’s something residents should take comfort in. Still, the hosts of a series of public information sessions should listen to the concerns of residents and other stakeholders.
Neighbours of the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre recently complained that its supervised drug consumption site resulted in an increase in discarded needles in the area, as well as undesirable behaviour.
The mobile East Village site holds great promise, but its operators must also promise to ensure that along with saving lives, they listen and respond to the concerns of well-meaning residents. Citizens deserve to be heard.