First safe consumption site to open this month

The first of four safe consumption sites in Edmonton should open by the end of February, about two months behind the original target.

“That was a soft deadline,” Ian Mathieson, director of operation of Boyle Street Community Services, said Monday. “We’re breaking new ground with this, so it’s often hard to tell when something will be ready.”

The group Access to Medically Supervised Injection Services Edmonton is co-ordinating three community sites, at Boyle McCauley Health Centre, Boyle Community Services and the George Spady Society. A fourth site at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, available only to patients, is scheduled to open in the spring.

One reason the community sites are behind schedule is because they are being put into existing facilities, Mathieson said.

“We have to take out a building, which is quite old, and retrofit it — that takes some design work, that takes some renovations and that takes time,” he said.

“And we’re hiring — and making sure we have the right staff so that everybody’s safe and everybody knows what they’re doing, and proper procedures are followed.”

Health Canada approved four supervised drug consumption sites for Edmonton’s inner city last October.

In November, the Chinatown and Area Business Association filed a court application to overturn approval of three community sites.

While the general neighbourhood has been pretty supportive, there has been opposition from particular groups, Mathieson said Monday.

“We know that overdoses are a serious concern in the province and this will address that and provide a way to reduce overdose threat,” he said.